Loud And Clear
by Lizzie9
Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of A Racket. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding, residency and fending off the new lusty intern. All in a day’s work. A story about the price we pay for love and knowing what's meant to be. MD.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**Enjoy. REVIEW.**

Nancy Shepherd Harrison crossed her legs in her first class seat. She reached down and picked a piece of lint off of her Chanel ballet flats. She sighed and reached in her bag for her copy of Vogue. Married. Again. And Derek. She'd always thought if there would be one of them to get divorced it would be Jenna. She was the loose cannon, not Derek.

But here he was, divorced, and newly engaged. She sighed again, leaned back into the seat of her American Airlines flight to Seattle, and closed her eyes. She decided wisely that she needed rest. Who knew what could possibly happen in Seattle?

At the same time Nancy was flying across the Midwest, on a crash course to the emerald city, her mother was back in New York, rallying the troops. A call to the west side tracked down her youngest daughter, Jenna. "Jenna, I need you to free up the weekend." Diane Shepherd said conspiratorially into her receiver.

After placing similar calls to Michelle in Ardmore and Elizabeth in Chappaqua, she had secured just what a bewildered mother needed for this set of circumstances. Her daughters.

* * *

She parked the rented Mercedes outside of the house, as indicated by the address that was scrawled on the back of the post it note she held in her hand. When she knocked on the surprisingly handsome mahogany door, a short, pleasant looking brown haired man opened the door.

"Hi. I'm looking for Derek Shepherd." She said, sticking out her hand. The young man shook it firmly.

"You're not his wife, are you?" he asked her. She laughed.

"Hardly. I'm Nancy Shepherd Harrison, Derek's sister. We just found out that he's engaged."

Comprehension seemed to dawn on the man's face. "Oh, okay. I'm George, George O'Malley?" He told her, his sentences all ending in question like up tones. "I'm Meredith's roommate. I think that they're um, upstairs." He said, gesturing. "It's the second door on the left."

She smiled thankfully at him, and climbed the stairs. George headed back into the kitchen where Izzie was frosting cupcakes and Callie was leaning across the counter and watching her. "Okay, this is weird." He said, hopping on the chair close to Callie.

"Who was that?" Izzie asked. "She looked like brunette Addison."

"It was Derek's sister, Nancy. She wanted to see Derek."

"And you sent her upstairs?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because I've been blasting the Footloose soundtrack in order to cover up the bed banging, mattress squeaking, 'oh my god, Derek' shouting that's been going on."

"Damn it, Izzie, I didn't even hear it!"

"You actually proposed, and set a date, and we haven't even met the girl, yet?" Nancy barked, flinging the door open, seemingly unbothered by the fact that her brother's fiancée was straddling him, naked. Meredith practically vaulted off Derek, and stood, naked, staring at the woman who had infiltrated her bedroom, with her mouth hanging open unattractively.

Nancy pursed her perfectly glossed lips and looked Meredith up and down. "Well," she said, smirking, "That certainly explains a lot."

"Uhhh…" Meredith stammered, reaching down blindly and grabbing at a sheet, hastily pulling it around her body. Derek cleared his throat and shot his sister a look. She rolled her blue eyes and turned around. Meredith and Derek scrambled to pull on enough clothing to cover anything they didn't want her to see again.

Meredith's eyes slid to the door. "My sister." Derek whispered. Meredith just finished dressing and plopped onto the bed. Nancy turned around and surveyed them, eyebrows raised as she eyed Derek in his navy t-shirt and boxes, and Meredith in his white button down and her lacy underwear.

"Don't get all dressed up on my account." Nancy said dryly. Meredith blushed. Derek rolled his own blue eyes.

"Nancy, what are you doing here?" His sister leaned against the door frame and stared at him.

"You called Mom and told her that you're getting married, and she should look for a wedding invitation. She's bewildered, and quite concerned. On top of all that, she's Mom, so I really don't know what you expected. Of course she'd send someone to investigate." She looked at Meredith. "I assume this is the intern you left Addie for."

Derek gritted his teeth. "Future wife, Nance."

"That too." Nancy said, tucking a strand of her behind her ear. "Hi." She said, nodding listlessly in Meredith's direction.

"Hi. I'm, um, I'm Meredith."

"Nancy. I've just heard so much about you, Meredith. What with the affair, the divorce and now this… proposal." Meredith smiled weakly.

"Enough, Nancy." Derek snapped, putting a hand on Meredith's knee. "How'd you find us, anyway?" he asked suspiciously. Nancy smiled.

"Well, since your trailer has, mercifully vanished from your forest, I did have to do a little detective work, but luckily for me, I have a few friends in Seattle."

"I'm going to _kill_ Mark." Derek said.

"Not if I kill him first." Meredith muttered. She turned to Derek. "Wait. Why is the trailer vanished, or whatever?"

"Not important." Derek said, eyeing his sister as she entered the room and perched on the bed, smoothing the sheets around her. Her hand touched something under the pillow and she pulled out the Trojan condom wrapper and tossed it at her brother.

"Glow in the dark. Glad to see you're still seventeen at heart." She smirked, looking dauntingly perfect in her black ballet flats, fitted grey pants and cashmere sweater. She smiled. "So, here's the deal. I'm staying in Seattle through Thursday."

"It's only Tuesday!" Derek protested.

"Listen!" his sister scolded. "On Thursday, we will all be flying back to New York. It's high time Meredith met her new family."

"We have to work." Derek said automatically. "She's a resident now. Getting interns of her own soon. Lots to do, little time to do it in."

"Mom cleared it with your chief of surgery." Nancy said nonchalantly.

"Mom talked to _Richard_?"

Nancy shrugged. "With a little help."

Meredith sighed. "I'm going to _kill_ Addison."

Derek shook his head. "Not if I kill her first."

Nancy smiled at them. "Don't look so morose!" she exclaimed. "Meredith, you and Derek will stay with our Mom. And you'll get to meet all of our sisters, Jenna, Michelle and Elizabeth. Don't worry. The family will love you. It's obvious Derek does."

Meredith smiled weakly, fighting the urge to run for the nearest bottle of tequila. Derek seemed to read her thoughts. "Nancy, you must be thirsty. Let's take you, and my terrified looking fiancée to a bar."


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**WOW. The response to the first chapter was unreal. We are so grateful to everyone who reviewed for all the feedback and all the love. We're totally flattered. But yes, here's chapter two. We're trying to convey that Nancy is confused, not just bitchy for the sake of being bitchy. Next chapter will bring the meeting of the family. **

**Also, how amazing was last night's episode? We're betting everyone who listens that Derek will be Meredith's knight in shining whatever and jump in that water and save her. She was drowning and he saved her? Hm. Interesting. Shonda's the man. **

**Enjoy. REVIEW.**

Meredith woke up the next day on her couch, wondering why she wasn't naked next to Derek in her bed, and why her head was pounding. She sat up, the denim on last night's jeans scratching her legs, and looked around. On the arm chair across the room, contorted into an awkward, uncomfortable looking position, was Derek. Meredith picked a pillow up off of her couch and threw it at him. He started and sat up straight, the hunched back over. Meredith looked at him strangely. "My back." He croaked by way of explanation.

Meredith placed two hands on the side of her head, one at each temple and started massaging. "I think I'm dying." She said, lying back down onto the couch. Derek gingerly raised himself out of the chair and hobbled into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin.

"Coffee's on." He said, leaning down and kissing her forehead. She reached for his neck, and pulled his mouth to hers, and eventually, pulling him on top of her.

"It's not that bad of a headache." She murmured into his mouth. He grinned devilishly at her and slid a hand up her shirt under her bra. She made some incoherent noise into his mouth and reached down to unbuckle his belt. She was working her tiny fingers around the button in his jeans when a loud cough sounded behind her. And then it all came rushing back. Last night's utterly humiliating concerning Nancy, future sister in law from _hell_. She made Addison look angelic, even in her Satan days.

Also the reason she was sleeping on the couch. In her tequila soaked haze from last night's binge at Joe's; this had been Derek's bright idea. Not that she hadn't needed it after getting stared down naked by a future family member. But it was during said tequila binge she had asked Nancy to stay with them, instead of venturing out into the night to search for a hotel. Hence the reason for the couch.

Meredith didn't even say a word to her. Just ducked her red faced head and practically ran for the kitchen, where she poured a particularly large cup of coffee and cursed herself for picking the guy with the big, over involved family. That she had to go to New York to face tomorrow. It's not like she had any competition; his last wife was only perfect. Meredith rolled her eyes as she heard the approaching footsteps of Derek and Nancy.

"Meredith." Nancy said in her pleasantly bitchy tone. "I'm surprised you're so awake in the morning after a night like last night." Meredith turned around and smiled tightly, thinking of a million questions she could fire back, primarily, 'when was the last time you got some?' but she restrained herself. She just crossed the room, kissed Derek on the cheek and handed him a travel mug full of coffee.

"You've got surgery in twenty minutes, Der." She said. He accepted the coffee and gazed down at her.

"You going to be okay here?" he asked.

She nodded and smiled. "I'll be leaving soon after you."

"I'll go with you." Nancy chimed in. Derek and Meredith both gaped at her. "Well I want to see Mark and Addie, and there's no use in taking two cars. Unless you'd rather I just stayed here?"

Meredith thought about the contents of her underwear drawer, while the three empty boxes of condoms in the bathroom captured Derek's thoughts.

"I'd love for you to come with me." Meredith said quickly, Derek nodding in agreement. Nancy smiled and poured herself a cup of coffee. Meredith headed upstairs to change and Derek walked out the door slowly, shooting warning glancing at his sister who was following him.

"Be nice to her." Derek instructed harshly. Nancy smiled at him, a smile he recognized from their youth. Her syrupy sweet rainbows and sunshine smile, that if you didn't know her, would convince you immediately she could do no wrong. Derek knew better.

"I'm always nice."

"Nancy. I love her. We're getting married. Be nice."

* * *

"So you met Derek in that bar?"

Meredith merged into the other lane and eyed Nancy. "What kind of trap is this?" she asked, catching her off guard.

Nancy smirked, seeming impressed at Meredith's boldness. She looked over at her. "Fine. You love my brother. Why?"

Meredith considered this. "If I had a dollar for every time I asked myself that…." She sighed and merged back. "We met in the bar. And it was great. Completely against the rules of the hospital, but great. And then Addison came, and it got less great. Especially when we got shot."

"So why do you love him?"

"He makes my world spin." Not even Nancy, with her clever rhetoric and sharp tongue bothered to respond to that.

They walked into the hospital together, a shared caution between them. Nancy didn't push any of the thousand questions she had for this woman. She wanted to know how, why. Why the affair, why were Mark and Addison back in Seattle, what had happened between the four of them? But she held them in, knowing there would be a better time. Meredith had questions of her own. She wanted to know why this sister hated her on principle.

But as they stood in the elevator waiting for it to stop and let them out at the third floor nurses station, it was silent. No sooner had the doors slid open, then Meredith heard a booming familiar voice.

"There's a Shepherd I always love to see!" Mark exclaimed, rushing over and entangling her in a bear hug that was so brief and friendly, Nancy feigned shock.

"Mark Sloan! No groping? No indecent proposals whispered in my ear? What the hell happened to you?"

Mark's grin took over his face, lighting up his eyes. "A special woman happened to me." He said dramatically.

"Where is that gorgeous lady?" Nancy asked.

"Nance!" They heard Addison squeal as she rushed towards the woman. Nancy pulled her into a hug, released her and then hugged her again. She held her at arm's length and looked her up and down.

"Addie! You look so… pregnant. Radiant, but pregnant. You're pregnant?"

"Say hello to Daddy." Mark said, circling an arm around Addison's waist. The three of them laughed. From her position by the elevator, leaning against the wall, praying for Derek to get off the elevator, she felt a familiar presence to her right.

"Who's the one dressed like Margaret Thatcher?" Cristina asked leaning against the wall next to her friend, making a face at the bland outfit.

"Derek's sister Nancy. She showed up last night to scold Derek for not letting the family evaluate me before he proposed. And the matriarch has commanded we fly to New York this weekend so I can meet my family."

Cristina's eyes almost popped out of her head. "You're going to meet the family Shepherd? I can swipe some valium from the pharmacy for you." She said gleefully. Meredith shot her a look.

"Is there anything that fills you with unbridled joy other than surgery or the awkward moments in my life?" Cristina considered this thoughtfully and shrugged.

"Don't take it personally. It's not just your life. Anyone's awkwardness causes me joy. You just happen to be the most awkward person I know." Meredith hit her in the arm with the chart she was carrying. Cristina rolled her eyes and swatted back at her. "You seriously have to fly out there and meet the family? Doesn't he have like seventeen sisters? And the mom, what do you think Mama Shepherd is like? If she's anything like Mrs. Burke, watch out."

"Look at them," Meredith said, pointing at Mark, Nancy and Addison. "Seattle is supposed to be my turf. Now they just took it over with all their former New York hotshot thing."

"You know Tinkerbelle is in on a triple bypass with Burke?"

"Nancy alluded to the me and Derek sleeping together while he was married and I knew incident all night last night. It's so hypocritical that she can forgive Addison and Mark for having dirty adulterous sex, but not me?"

"I mean it's Izzie. She's too happy for cardio."

"The me and Derek sleeping together while he was married and I knew incident isn't all that different from the time Addison and Mark shacked up in New York."

"We really need a shorter name for the you and Derek sleeping together while he was married and you knew incident."

"Bribe him. Burke. Sex in an on call room may work wonders."

"Is that how you get in on all those neuro procedures?"

"Derek would give them to me anyway." She leaned in towards Cristina. "You should be prepared to get on your knees, if necessary."

"Well, ladies, that's intriguing conversation for the morning." Burke said, stepping off the elevator with Derek.

"Thank God." Meredith said. Derek smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. He stepped close to her, trapping her against the wall. He leaned down to her ear, smiling.

"Interested in getting on your knees, Dr. Grey?" She rolled her eyes and stepped away from him.

"Not even close." She muttered. "Can you do something about this?" she demanded, pointing at Mark, Addison and Nancy. "They're invading my turf with all their way back when closeness. And you promised we could kill Addison and Mark for co-conspiring."

Derek smiled. "And we will, promptly. I feel they deserve our wrath, but…"

"Derek?" Meredith asked sharply. "I'm staying standing on both feet."

"That could work too." He said with a wink, pressing a kiss to her temple. She smiled at him and leaned into his ear.

"Put your sister in a hotel tonight, and just might get lucky." Her fingers twisted into the dark curls at the nape of his neck and she smiled at him. A few feet to their right, Burke and Cristina were staring at them, their faces twisted into identical looks of disgust.

"Never." Cristina said to Burke. He nodded in agreement and shook his head at them. Derek and Meredith separated, and Derek looked over at Mark and Addison.

"Hey. Satan and her pawn. Talk, now." He called over to Mark and Addison. Twin faces of innocence attempting to mask guilt stared back at them. Meredith rolled her eyes, and Addison directed Nancy towards the coffee machine.

Derek grabbed her elbow and pulled her and Mark into the doctors lounge. Meredith shut the door and the two of them stood before Mark and Addison, who perched on the couch. Derek and Meredith both had their arms crossed and stony looks on their faces. Addison looked up at them and promptly burst out laughing. Mark eyes them and joined her.

"Nancy walked in on you guys having sex?" Addison gasped through peals of laughter. Meredith threw her hands in the air.

"I give up."


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**WOW. Amazing response to the first two chapters. We hate this chapter. We really wanted to have the thing with the whole group, and Mark and Derek's little scene, but it came out rushed and not as good as we'd hoped. So bear with us. **

**COMING UP: Meredith stands up to the Shepherd women. The new residents get interns, two of whom make plays for taken men (Derek and someone else), Addison has baby complications, wedding plans, etc.**

**Enjoy. REVIEW.**

After her shift, Meredith drove back to her house alone. Derek had left the hospital before her to take Nancy to her hotel, a fact that proved that there was in fact, some sort of higher being watching over her. Derek was sitting on the porch when she arrived at her house; their house, smiling. "There's my girl." He said, putting an arm around her as he sat down next to her. "She's in that big hotel by the water. Addison took the afternoon off to shop with her, so she's happy and has agreed there will be no interruptions tonight." Meredith stood and pulled him to his feet, pushing him against her front door.

"Thank God for Addison." She murmured before kissing him. His lips parted instantly, granting her tongue access to his. They kissed until she was dizzy from the lack of oxygen, and broke away grinning. She opened the door and tugged him inside, and they kissed their way to the stairwell. "Upstairs?" she asked, pinning him against the wall. Before he could answer, or pull her up the steps, or start taking her pants off right there, a crash from the kitchen caught their attention. George came into the hallway, drink in hand and surveyed them.

"No, no, no." he said shaking his head. "Please wait to start the shout and moan fest until I'm drunk enough to pass out."

Meredith cocked her head at him, not bothering to disentangle herself from Derek. "We have alcohol?"

George nodded. "And food?" At this declaration, Meredith finally moved away from her fiancé and headed for the kitchen.

"Hey!" Derek said indignantly. Meredith turned around and pouted at him.

"I'm _starving_." She said. "And we have food. Won't take long." Derek had no choice but to follow her into the kitchen.

"Since when does food trump sex?" he asked, stepping over the threshold. Burke eyed him.

"For me, it doesn't." he said smirking. Derek looked at him and Cristina, George and Callie, Alex and Izzie and Mark and Addison who were still unpacking bags of food.

"What are you all doing here?" Derek asked. Izzie and George pointed at Addison and Mark. Addison cleared her throat.

"We brought food. And alcohol. It's an olive branch."

"An olive branch for what? Directing Nancy to us, or helping my mother manipulate the chief?"

Addison smiled weakly at her ex-husband and reached for the scotch in Mark's hand and extended the drink to Derek. "Both?" Meredith grinned and reached for the bottle of Jose Cuervo next to Cristina.

"Thank you guys," she said. "Olive branch accepted." She surveyed the kitchen table where a huge spread of take out and snacks had been spread. "Olive branches of food are always accepted. There's soda and lemonade in the fridge, Addison." She said. Addison smiled gratefully at her, and placing a hand on her stomach, extracted a diet coke from the refrigerator.

"We also thought, maybe we could give you some advice. You know, how to charm the clan." Mark said with a smile and a wink. Meredith's head snapped in their direction and she finished piling food on her plate with alarming speed and crossed the room to them in two huge steps.

"Advice? Yes. Living room now."

Derek scoffed at them, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "She doesn't need any advice. They're going to love her."

Meredith shot him a warning look. "Oh yes, it'll be easy convincing them I'm _not_ the slut that ruined the perfect marriage with the perfect wife. Advice please." She said, herding Mark and Addison into the living room. Derek rolled his eyes.

"They're going to love her." He repeated to the remaining group in the kitchen.

"Sure they are, McDreamy. Just keep telling yourself that." Izzie said.

* * *

An hour later, Meredith had learned that Mrs. Shepherd was of the old money, aristocratic type, and she really liked manners. And Jenna was the sister most likely to warm to her first. And Michelle always sided with Jenna. Elizabeth and Nancy were much harder to convince, but they too, could be won over. They had gone over quirks and idiosyncrasies, and Meredith struggled to keep it all inside of her spinning head. She looked up from her drink and surveyed her friends. They liked her. Burke liked her. Even Addison liked her now. "They're going to hate me." She moaned. Alex laughed at her.

"That blows." He commented, before returning to stuffing food into his mouth.

Mark grinned. "Not as well as…"

Addison threw a hand up in the air. "Don't even finish that sentence. Derek smirked and opened his mouth, hoping to get out something so the opportunity wouldn't be wasted but Meredith glared at him.

"Derek, I will call this wedding off." She barked, looking miserable. Addison placed a hand on her arm and Mark moved over towards Derek.

"Meredith," Addison said gently. "It's going to be okay. I don't exactly have a perfectly clean record when it comes to the Shepherds, and neither does Mark, and they forgave us."

"They knew you before they knew you were adulterous sluts." Meredith grumbled. "That's my only claim to fame. And Derek thinks they're just going to adore me because he does." She looked over at her fiancé who was whispering conspiratorially with Mark. Meredith made a face. "Do you get the horrifying feeling they're comparing notes on our uh, blowing?"

Addison placed hands on her temples. "Meredith, you say things like that forgetting that I am pregnant, and can't drink." She looked at the two men and made a face similar to Meredith's. "They definitely are. Derek, come here!" she shouted. He ambled over chuckling. "Stop being so… Mark like and help out the future wife." She said, marveling at how she could say it now without feeling the twinge of pain she had felt earlier.

Derek sat down next to Meredith and Addison stood, whacking Mark on the shoulder and fending off teasing comments from Burke and Callie.

"They're going to adore you, Meredith."

"Why? Because you do? You have this utterly annoying habit of ignoring my flaws, Derek. They're going to hate me. And then…" she trailed off and looked away.

"And then what?" Meredith sighed, looking uncomfortable. This fear had been edging its way into her head since Nancy showed up. It started a just a little ping of apprehension, and was now a cold, hard fear.

"They're going to get to you." She mumbled. "And then you're going to see that I'm not, I'm not good enough for you. And then you're not going to want to marry me." Derek instinctively wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. He stroked her hair and squeezed her, and then moved away far enough to put both hands on her cheeks.

"You are better than anything I could have hoped for. And there is nothing anyone could say that would make me not want to marry you, okay?"

"Okay." She said, smiling, feeling reassured. "But they're going to hate me."

"Are not."

"Care to make a wager?"

"Depends on the stakes Dr. Grey." He said suggestively, grinning at her. She leaned in and whispered into his ear. His eyebrows shot up, and he grinned.

"Deal."

* * *

Meredith had forgotten how long it took to fly from coast to coast. The last time she had done it, she was in a coach seat, all alone, flying from Boston to start her new internship in Seattle. Now, sitting here in this first class cabin next to Derek, and two rows in front of his sister Nancy, it was almost unbelievable how much things had changed. She was starting her residency. She was marrying Derek Shepherd. She wasn't alone in the world anymore.

Derek placed a hand on her thigh and smiled at her encouragingly. He knew that she could do this. He loved her so much that his family would just have to love her too. She sighed and leaned over to kiss him. They had stayed up way too late last night, until finally it was just the two of them, Burke and Cristina and Mark and Addison in the living room. Meredith had woken up this morning with another hangover and sense of apprehension. Plus, they hadn't had sex in two days. "I miss sex." She whispered in Derek's ear, her eyes darting towards the bathroom.

He raised his eyebrows in an impressed smirk. "Meet me in five minutes." He got up to leave, and she entered the same bathroom he had five minutes later, giggling.

"How's this going to work?" she asked, grinning. He kissed her pushing her back against the tiny sink, and hoisted her up onto it. He reached down and unzipped her jeans with hand, the other one sliding up her shirt. "Oh that's working." She groaned, reaching for his zipper.

When they exited the bathroom, flushed and unkempt, Nancy only pretended to be sleeping.

When the plane finally arrived at La Guardia, it was six thirty in New York. Derek retrieved his and Meredith's bags from the overhead carry on, and they exited the plane with Nancy. Meredith spotted Derek's mother immediately. She had ash blonde hair and the same piercing blue eyes that Derek had. One of the sisters was with her. She had the hair, but her eyes were green. Derek ran up to them, exchanging hugs and kisses, and Meredith approached apprehensively, her hands in her back pockets.

"Diane Shepherd." His mother said, extending her hand. Meredith tucked a piece of hair shyly behind her ear and gave her hand. "You must be Meredith." She said, smiling, hugging her gently.

"Yea, I'm, um Meredith." She stammered, panicking. Derek circled his arm around her waist and smiled down at her.

"This is my sister Jenna." He said. "Michelle and Elizabeth will meet us at dinner, okay?" Meredith nodded and smiled weakly, and followed Derek's mother to her Land Rover. She climbed into the back with Derek and Jenna, who offered her a warm smile.

"How was the flight?" Diane asked, obviously trying to clear some of the tension out of the air.

"Fine." Derek and Meredith chorused together quickly.

Nancy snorted. "They did join the mile high club, it must have been fine." Jenna looked shocked and stifled laughter and Derek's mother furrowed her brow.

"The mile high club?" she asked politely.

"They sex in the bathroom on the plane, Mom." Nancy said. Meredith turned an incriminating shade of red and sunk down in her seat. It was going to be a really long weekend.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**WOW. Amazing response so far. You guys are AWESOME. Seriously, we wouldn't be able to do this if it weren't for all of your support and sometimes criticisms. We're just grateful that you share your opinions of our writing. **

**So this chapter is a little shorter than anticipated, but we felt like it had to end there. And yes, Mer finally let them have it. You didnt think she'd just lie back and take it, did you? **

**COMING UP: The new residents get interns, two of whom make plays for taken men (Derek and someone else), Addison has baby complications, wedding plans, etc.**

**Enjoy. REVIEW.**

Four exceptionally awkward meals, one exceptionally awkward night, and many exceptionally awkward hours had passed since Nancy had announced to Derek's mother, that yes, Meredith was just as slutty as they'd thought, and yes, they did have sex on the plane.

Meredith had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't fit in with this family. This mother talked to her daughters. She was involved, she was intertwined with their lives. And God, these women. They were all well groomed and well dressed and perfect. They coordinated, they matched, they were put together.

She was willing to bet that they never ran around in scrubs and converse sneakers with dirty hair, covered in vomit or something. Granted they weren't surgical interns, but she thought that if they were, they'd wear salmon colored scrubs and maintain manicures throughout the whole time. She felt so out of place in this impeccable world of decoration schemes and designer sportswear and old money. Was this Derek's life? For the thousandth time she found herself wondering who Derek was before he had moved to Seattle and picked her up in a bar.

"Are you going to be okay with them all afternoon?" he asked, leaning down to whisper in her ear. He was supposed to be going out to see some old friends from New York, and she was to accompany the Shepherd women shopping and then to cocktails before they met Derek for dinner. She wanted to tell him that no, thanks for asking but she was not going to be okay with them all afternoon because they hated her. And they didn't even bother to hide it. They just hated her with open and snarky abandon, making it quite clear at every turn they wished she was Addison.

But Derek looked so hopeful, so excited at the prospect of his fiancée bonding with his family that she didn't have the heart to voice any of her concerns. She just tucked a strand of her behind her ears and smiled. She nodded with what she hoped looked like enthusiasm. "Yea, we'll be fine." She assured him. "Izzie called by the way. Mr. Hildon, your patient? They found someone to do the surgery, but he wants you to make sure they didn't remove any brain parts he'll be needing." Derek winked at her.

"That's what happens when you're the best, Mer." He said his usual arrogant smirk on his face. Meredith arched an eyebrow; they were alone in the study, surrounded by nothing but books. She raised her lips to his and slipped her tongue into his mouth, something she hadn't done since the plane ride. She could feel his mouth turn up into a grin against her lips as he deepened the kiss and slid his hand up into her hair. She was moving to straddle him, when she heard a cough at the door. Diane and Elizabeth. Wonderful.

"The boys are in a cab downstairs, Derek." Diane said, looking at them disdainfully. Derek shot her a warning look and kissed Meredith's cheek.

"I'll see you for dinner." He said, smiling. Meredith nodded and tried to return his grin. Derek hoisted himself off of the couch and walked past his mother, kissing her and his sister on their cheeks. "Make her feel welcome." He hissed to them as he slid past out strode out the front door. His mother patted her hair and smiled.

"Well, Meredith, if you're ready, Barney's awaits."

Meredith followed Diane and Elizabeth in Barney's one terrifying ride in the Land Rover later. Standing there waiting for them, were Michelle, Jenna and Nancy, each one looking impeccable in their own way. Michelle arched an eyebrow at Meredith. "Do you always dress like that?" she asked. Meredith looked down at her flats, jeans and cable knit sweater.

"Yes." She said tentatively. "Is it…?" she trailed off.

"It's just not very put together, is it? Nancy asked. Meredith fought the urge to roll her eyes, knowing where this conversation was going.

"Addison would die." Elizabeth put in.

"She was always so stylish." Diane commented. Meredith dug her nails into her palm and smiled thinly. They all started walking towards the women's department, and she had no choice but to follow them. Two hours and countless overpriced French shoes and sweaters later, she pulled out her phone and texted Cristina as they walked to Bendel's. After firing off a few ranting messages to her friend, she had no choice but to continue making her effort to get them to stop hating her. So she smiled and nodded and made noises at all the clothes in order to not look like she was slowly descending into hell, but they didn't seem to care.

Jenna walked out of the dressing room wearing some silver Dolce and Gabbana dress. Meredith tried to think of something nice to say, even though it didn't suit her at all, but Nancy beat her to it. "You need more color. Only Addie could pull off that dress."

Meredith sank down a little lower in her seat and examined her nails. "Don't you agree Meredith?" Diane asked. "That would be fabulous on Addison?"

Meredith forced a smile and nodded. "It would be just great." She said through gritted teeth. It was almost seven when they finally made their way towards the St. Regis and the King Cole Bar. Meredith had endured hours of comments about her personality, her style, her habits, and her lack of being Addison. Her nerves and her patience were in shreds. They sat around a table, looking at the drink menu, and the jarring ring of her cell phone broke into Meredith's fantasy of ordering a bottle of tequila and downing the whole thing.

"Hello?"

"It's me." Addison said on the other line. "How are you holding up?" Meredith practically jumped out of her chair and hovered a few feet away from the table so as not to be overheard.

"They hate me." She said flatly. "And I'm not being dramatic. It's been nothing but the constant highlighting of my numerous inadequacies." Addison sighed on the other end of the airwaves. "Everything is about you." Meredith said quietly.

Addison shook her head, even though she knew the girl couldn't see her. "Meredith, don't." she said forcefully. "For them, it's about me, because they just aren't used to any of this yet, but for Derek, it's about you, okay?"

Meredith drew in a shaky breath. "I'm trying so hard, Addison." She said. "They just… have something against me. It's like all my efforts make them like me less." Addison didn't say anything for awhile, she just breathed into the other line, lost in thought.

"Have you defended yourself?" she asked.

"No." Meredith said, sounding very much like a kid on the playground. Addison bit back laughter at her pouty, six year old inspired tone.

"Try that." She instructed. "Good luck. See you soon."

"Not soon enough." Meredith grumbled into her phone. She made her way back to the table wondering when the hell her life had changed so much that she actually wanted to see Addison. She sat down and smiled apologetically. "I'm so sorry." She said. "It was Addison."

Five pairs of perfectly plucked eyebrows rose at her. "She talks to you?" Nancy asked. Meredith nodded. "That's very surprising, considering what you did to her." And that was the last straw. Something inside of Meredith snapped. The anger, the frustration and the fear she had been harboring all weekend were unleashed.

"Well you know what?" she snapped. "She forgave me. Just like you forgave her and Mark for doing the exact same thing I did."

"They sleepy together once." Elizabeth said. "You were sneaking around for weeks."

Meredith's eyes narrowed into slits. "Seriously?" she asked. "Do you even know what happened? I fell in love with your brother after about five minutes. Really in love. And it was going great, and then one day, his wife just showed up. Like walks into the hospital and asked me if I was the one screwing her husband. Real funny, considering I didn't know he was married!" she took a breath. Derek's family sat in there seats, rigid, staring at her. She couldn't read any of their faces yet, so she just kept talking.

"I begged him to stay with me, but he went back to Addison. And then we got shot and he chose to save me, and it was this big, crushing realization for the both of us, and I don't for a second excuse myself for sleeping with him while he was married, but he loves me. And I love him. And if I have to listen to you criticize me for one more freaking minute, I'm actually going to start to miss my own mother, which is about the equivalent of hell freezing over. You might actually like me, you know. Addison does." She slumped back in her seat, breathless, and suddenly terrified.

She watched as Diane's mouth twitched, Jenna smirked, and Elizabeth, Michelle and Nancy gaped at her, open mouthed. A well dressed waiter swished over to their table as they sat in silence and stared at each other. "What can I get for you darlings?" he asked with a flamboyant flourish of his pen.

Diane blinked and gestured to Meredith. "Get this lady a Grey Goose Martini, straight up." Meredith cocked her head and blinked. "She's a Shepherd now." Diane concluded. In spite of all the anger and hatred she'd been feeling not five minutes ago, Meredith smiled as the rest of them ordered their drinks. As the waiter sashayed to the bar, Diane cocked an eyebrow at her. "You are a firecracker, aren't you?" she asked.

Meredith blushed and shrugged, not sure if this was good or bad. To her left, Jenna snorted and started laughing. Diane began to chuckle, followed by Michelle, and eventually, even Nancy was laughing so hard she had tears running down her face. Meredith wasn't sure what was funny, but she laughed with them, feeling like she had finally cracked them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**WOW. Amazing response so far. You guys are AWESOME. Seriously, we wouldn't be able to do this if it weren't for all of your support and sometimes criticisms. We're just grateful that you share your opinions of our writing. **

**SPECIAL NOTE FROM LIZ: Okay, so here you meet Bridget, who is my creation. She's one of Mer's interns and she obviously instantly develops a thing for Derek. She's going to make a play for him in a big way, and yes, she is loosely based on Sara, just in some of her mannerisms. Bridget is kind of Sara, with the fixations and the smoking and the self involvement, but nowhere near as mean. Sara is absolutely wonderful. A few of her quirks are in Bridget. That's all. **

**Enjoy. REVIEW.**

Derek watched in amazement as Meredith embraced each of his sisters, one by one, and finally his mother. She hugged his mom. "We'll see you around wedding time, if not before." She said, smiling a genuine smile. His mother nodded and embraced her again.

"We'll see you when you come to go dress shopping." She whispered in Meredith's ear. Meredith giggled a little and nodded.

"I'll see what I can do." She climbed into the taxi and waited for Derek to say goodbye to his family. Diane raised her eyebrows at her son as he too hugged all of his sisters and then her.

"She's perfect for you, Derek." His mother told him. Derek knew she meant it. Diane Shepherd was a master of white lies and politeness, but to her own children she had never been anything but candid.

"You like her?"

His mother smiled and nodded. "We like her." She said, looking at her daughters. Derek could see it in their faces. They liked her. Derek grinned so hard he thought he face might split. Nancy rolled her eyes and pushed him lightly.

"Get in the taxi, Derek." She said. He nodded and obliged climbing on over Meredith and pulling her lose to him before she could even shut the door. They waved as the cab pulled into traffic, on course for La Guardia. Derek looked at Meredith in astonishment.

"What?" she asked, giggling as her kissed her neck.

"How'd you do it?" he asked. "They like you. Genuinely, truly like you. My sisters. And they don't like anybody."

Meredith smiled coyly and shrugged. "I have my ways, Derek Shepherd." She said, snuggling close to him. His face lit up as he remembered the wager they had made. Meredith pulled back suspiciously. "Why do you look like Christmas has come early?" she asked.

"Meredith Grey, we have a bet to settle."

Meredith groaned. "I was hoping you had forgotten about that."

Derek smirked at her and looped and arm around her shoulders. "Not a chance. I believe I get to pick the time and the on call room." Meredith rolled her eyes.

"Not in the morning, and it has to be one with a working lock."

Derek stuck out his hand. "Deal." She grabbed his hand and used it to pull his body into hers and again, she kissed him on the lips.

* * *

"How was the family Shepherd?" Cristina asked Meredith as they entered the hospital the Monday after her weekend in New York. Meredith bit her lip and considered how to answer this.

"At first, horrible." She said. "I thought they were going to kill me. It was all Addison this and you're a whore that. But then I kind of freaked out a little bit and that sort of solved my problem. So they like me now, I think."

Cristina raised her eyebrows. "They like you. That's both surprising and disturbing."

Meredith shrugged and nodded in the direction of Izzie who was coming at them full force, tugging Alex along by the hand. "How'd it go?" she asked.

"They like her." Cristina said.

"They like you? After you destroyed the golden couple?"

"Shut up evil spawn." Cristina defended loyally. "She didn't destroy them."

"You can stop talking about me in the second person." Meredith suggested. "I am actually right here." Cristina rolled her eyes for the millionth time that morning and she hadn't even been inside the hospital.

"Dude," Alex said, wrapping an arm around Izzie. "We get interns today." It had almost slipped Meredith's mind. Interns of her very own. Fifteen minutes later she was surveying them. Three out of her four were present.

"Amanda Connor?" she asked. A sweet looking blonde girl raised her hand shyly, looking like a fourteen year old on her first day of high school. She blushed when Meredith smiled at her and looked down. "Luke Douglas?" A handsome brunette guy nodded at her. He looked serious, and a little Cristina like. "And you must be Kevin Livingston, because I wouldn't peg you as a Bridget Neilson."

"Kevin." The other boy muttered, nodding. Meredith tapped her hand on the wall she was leaning against.

"Maybe Bridget quit." She mused. "Anyone know her?" The other three looked at each other uncomfortably. Suddenly a voice rang out down the hall.

"Dr. Montgomery. Dr. Sloan. Imagine seeing you two on the West Coast!" Addison fought to keep her eyes from rolling bitchily and smiled tightly. Bridget Neilson. Addison and Mark knew her parents, who's friends had been friends with Addison's parents. Sort of. Addison's money was old. Generation after generation of luxury and wealth. The Neilson's money was new in the most obnoxious way possible.

"Bridget." She said coolly. "How are your parents?" The young socialite smiled and shrugged.

"How the hell would I know?" she asked before smiling at Mark and setting off. Bridget fought the urge to look back at Mark Sloan. Of all the older men she could possibly want to seduce in Seattle, he was at the top of her list. But she knew better than to cross the Montgomery family. "I'm looking for a Dr. Grey?" she called out.

"That would be me." Said a tiny woman with dirty blonde hair. Bridget appraised her, taking in her scattered appearance, and tossing her own glossy chestnut locks for good measure. "Are you Bridget Neilson?"

Bridget laughed. "Well, of course I am."

Meredith narrowed her eyes. "You're late." She snapped. Bridget flashed her white teeth at her.

"Sorry about that. Do you know how it was to land my Learjet in this freaking city?" Meredith had not been expecting that.

"Learjet?" she repeated. "You have a Learjet?"

Bridget smirked. "If you want to more about me, check In Touch or US Weekly." She said quietly to Meredith. Meredith's eyes narrowed. After spending most of the weekend sucking up to Derek's sisters, her tolerance for passively bitchy woman was all out. She pursed her lips and appraised Bridget. This girl wouldn't see the inside of an OR for a long, long time.

She turned back to her group and started giving them assignments.

* * *

As the day sped by, it was evident to Meredith that as much as annoyed as she was by Bridget's behavior, her overwhelming cockiness, her narcissistic attitude, her sense of entitlement, she was also equally fascinated with her. She had a way of garnering people's attention.

Meredith watched Bridget as she darted in and out of patient's rooms, wondering what on earth had possessed this girl to want to become a doctor. She felt her pager vibrate at her side. Bailey. She wasn't even Bailey's intern anymore, but anytime she paged, Meredith went running. She pretended it was habit, but it was really just terror.

Bridget watched her resident head swiftly down the hallway and rolled her eyes. Meredith Grey. Whatever. Just because she was Ellis Grey's daughter didn't mean Bridget owed her respect. She heard a smooth male voice talking and turned around slowly. Her breath caught in her chest in an unexpected surge of feelings. It was a tall guy with bright blue eyes and wavy dark hair. He looked pretty familiar, like someone she might have met in New York.

"Dr. Yang." He said, in a voice oozing sex. "Have you seen Dr. Grey?"

Cristina rolled her eyes. "Cashing in on your bet? Still morning, McDreamy. Not a chance." Derek smirked at Cristina eliciting an exasperated look from her. It hit Bridget just then. Addison's ex husband, Derek Shepherd. Forget Mark Sloan. She had found the object of her Seattle seduction.

"I saw her." Bridget said, smiling coyly. "But what do I get if I tell you?" she said asking biting into her lower lip. Cristina raised her eyebrows and backed away.

"I didn't see that." She muttered, grabbing her pager from her waist. She got a few feet down the hall and turned around. "Dr. Shepherd, if you find your _fiancée_, tell her I'm looking for her too." She called, shooting a meaningful look at Bridget. It dawned on her that Derek Shepherd must be engaged to her little resident. She smirked at Dr. Yang just to let her know an engagement didn't mean anything to her, and turned back to Derek Shepherd, but he was already gone.

Bridget let a slow smile spread across her perfect, patrician features. Okay, so he was engaged. Big deal. She had yet to be turned down by anyone in her whole life. She got whoever she set her sights on. She wasn't going to let that change.

* * *

At the end of the day, Meredith walked outside of the hospital, looking for Derek. She coughed as she walked into a cloud of smoke. The carcinogens infiltrated her lungs and she placed a hand on her chest as she hacked unattractively. She looked to her right, and Bridget, her rouge intern was leaning against the wall, taking a drag off of a Marlboro Light.

"You're smoking a cigarette." Meredith said, horror evident in her voice. Bridget nodded slowly and looked at her.

"Yeah. Why, do you want one?"

"What?" Meredith sputtered. "No, I don't want one. You're a _doctor_. You know those will kill you."

"Ah," Bridget corrected. "I'm a doctor with an addiction."

"You're a doctor who's going to get cancer."

Bridget shook her head. "There's this kid in India, Akrit. He performed surgery when he was like, seven or something. He's thirteen and theorizing on how to cure cancer."

Meredith stared her blankly, and opened and closed her mouth a few times before speaking. "That's your plan? To smoke until you get cancer on the hopes that some whiz kid will cure it?" Bridget gave a nonchalant shrug, her eyes focused on Derek who was striding out of the building. He came outside and kissed Meredith's cheek.

"Ready?" he asked. She smiled up at him.

"Let's go." She said. They joined hands and walked away without so much as a glance in her direction. Bridget smirked as she watched them. They looked like they really loved each other. Not like that was going to stop her.


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**WOW. Amazing response so far. You guys are AWESOME. Seriously, we wouldn't be able to do this if it weren't for all of your support and sometimes criticisms. We're just grateful that you share your opinions of our writing. **

**Okay, so you hate Bridget. That's good. We want you to hate Bridget. Bridget is like the anti Mer. Mer is kind, compassionate and sort of quirky, and out there. Insecure sometimes. Bridget is self centered, rude, cocky and an all out bombshell who gets what she wants. And now she wants Derek. Read on.**

**Enjoy. REVIEW.**

"Give me a dirty martini." Bridget said, sliding onto a stool. She sighed and lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply, trying not to hate all of Seattle. There was something about this city that aggravated her beyond belief. New York was intoxicating, a beautiful lit up city with a dark and dirty underbelly. It was in a league of its own. At least in L.A. you knew all you were getting was superficial partying with great shopping. But Seattle was unexplainable. It just didn't move fast enough for her, and she didn't know how long she could take it.

"You must be new in town." The bartender said, sliding her drink to her. She smiled and brushed her bangs out of her eyes.

"Bridget Neilson." She said. "I just started at Seattle Grace. Intern."

The bartender raised his eyebrows and studied her. "The Bridget Neilson?" he asked. "My boyfriend follows you religiously." Bridget smiled again.

"That's me." She said. "And you are…?"

"Joe." He said. "I own the bar." Bridget's attention was drawn to a commotion at the door. Meredith came in surrounded by what Bridget had sarcastically dubbed her entourage. Mark and Addison, Cristina and Burke, Alex and Izzie traipsed in after her. At work, Bridget smiled dutifully at them and referred to them all as doctor, but in her head, she scornfully used their first names. She rolled her eyes at them as they all sat on stools, occupying half the bar.

"Joe!" her resident called, either not seeing Bridget or choosing to ignore her.

"Meredith!" Joe boomed, leaning over the bar to muss her hair with his outstretched hand.

"We have a dispute to settle, Joe." Meredith announced. "Dr. Sloan here seems to think that he can, what was it you said, Mark?" she asked, grinning devilishly. "Oh right, drink me under the table." She slapped a palm on the bar. "Those are fighting words."

Addison massaged her temples and groaned. "Oh, this is such a bad idea." She muttered, looking at Meredith. "If you have to get your stomach pumped again, Derek is going to kill me." Meredith ignored her, and smiled at Joe.

"Tequila for me, Jack Daniels for McSteamy." She said, jerking a thumb at Mark. "Keep them coming. At least until someone passes out or throws up." Joe raised a skeptical eyebrow at her as he wiped down the bar.

"I try to avoid having anyone passing out in my bar, Mer." He said. Meredith just waved a nonchalant hand at him.

"We're all doctors. Addison will take care of Mark when he hits the floor." Addison looked at her boyfriend, the father of her child, and her ex- husband's fiancée and rolled her eyes dramatically in an over exaggerated gesture.

"They're like children, Joe." She said. "Don't give in." Meredith caught Joe's eyes and grinned. Joe sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry, Addison. I can't resist that Meredith Grey smile."

Addison smirked at Meredith. "It's okay Joe. I have yet to meet a man who can."

Alex chuckled. "I can." He said. Izzie rolled her eyes at him and leaned over towards Addison, pretending like she had some big secret to share.

"Don't let him fool you. One smile and she'll have him bringing her grilled cheese sandwiches." Addison stifled a laugh as she shot a sidelong glance at Alex, who she knew, also harbored some brotherly affection for Meredith, just like Mark and Burke did. Bridget watched in amazement. Meredith Grey would be nothing in L.A. She'd barely get noticed in New York. But here she was, with a gorgeous fiancée, all these friends, and a mysterious ability to charm alcohol and food out of men who adored her like a little sister. Bridget picked up her second drink, lighting another Marlboro light and blowing smoke out in a perfect stream. She hated Seattle. Meredith caught her eyes as Joe filled shot glasses.

"Dr. Neilson." She said. Bridget appraised her thin hair, pretty but forgettable face, and the simple charcoal colored shirt clinging to her thin frame.

"Hello Dr. Grey." She said. Meredith smiled awkwardly.

"See you tomorrow." She offered. Bridget gave her a listless smile and took a long drag off of her cigarette.

"Yea." She said, her tone lacking any trace of warmth or sincerity. Meredith turned her attention away as Joe set down two shot glasses in front of her and Mark.

"You're going down, Doe Eyes."

"Doe Eyes? You can do better than that, dirty mistress."

"Adulterous whore." Mark shot back. Meredith smirked at him, and they clinked their glasses together, tipping back the liquid. Cristina marked a tally on the napkin she was using to keep score and Joe poured them each another.

Addison groaned as she watched with Burke, Alex and Izzie. "Why do I let them behave like teenagers?" she wondered aloud. Burke eyed her until she turned to him, exasperated. "What is it, Preston?" she demanded.

He shrugged. "At least you know tonight you and Derek won't be the ones who have done something stupid." Addison brightened and smiled.

"Mer, at least tell me you feel sick." Mark said weakly, twelve or thirteen shots later. Meredith grinned and threw her head, back pouring more tequila down her throat.

"Not at all." She said. She slapped her hand on the bar for emphasis. "Drink up, Sloan." She said, laughing as he winced and took his shot. "Madam Scorekeeper!" she shouted at Cristina. "Where the hell are we?" Cristina made a face and calmly sipped her own drink.

"Tied up at fourteen." She said, cocking an eyebrow at Meredith. Mark took a deep breath and ran a hand over his hair.

"Joe, line me up four." He said. Meredith folded her arms and watched as Joe set the glasses down and Mark took them consecutively, one after another. Meredith smirked as he gulped from Addison's diet coke after the final shot.

"Impressive." She said. "Give me five, Joe."

"Oh, come on!" Mark shouted. Joe laughed as he placed glasses in front of his favorite customer. Her friends looked on in a mixture of shock and admiration as Meredith took all five, and refused a chaser at the end. She raised her arms in the air in triumph. "Nineteen, eighteen." She said, taunting Mark in a sing-song voice. "What do you say, Mark?"

He sighed heavily. "I can't lose to a girl who barely tops a hundred pounds. Give me another Joe."

"Me too!" Meredith chimed in. Joe watched nervously as they both took one more, but this time, Mark leapt off his stool and bolted for the bathroom.

"You win, Grey." He called over his shoulder. They burst out laughing as Meredith cheered drunkenly and the door opened. Bridget sucked in a breath as Derek Shepherd appeared in the door. She watched as his eyes fell on Meredith and lit up as her looked at her. She seemed to notice him at the exact same time. She slid off the stool and crossed the bar to meet him, jumping up and hooking her legs around him. He hoisted her up so her legs were hooked around his waist and laughed at her. She leaned down and kissed him.

"I love you." She said. Derek laughed again, carrying her over, and setting her butt on a barstool, keeping his arms around her. She kept her arms around his neck, and her legs hooked around his hips.

"You're drunk." Derek said. Meredith nodded proudly.

"I out drank Mark." She said. "Twenty to nineteen." Derek snorted at this and looked around.

"Where is he?"

"Throwing up in the bathroom." Meredith said, kissing him again. Derek pulled away uncertainly.

"You're not going to be sick are you?"

Meredith giggled. "Nope. I'm drunk. And horny. But I'm not going to be sick." Derek smirked at her, pushing hair out of her eyes.

"That is very good news, Dr. Grey."

"Derek, let's go home." She urged. "We can do that thing…" she trailed off and he raised an eyebrow at her. She leaned in and whispered something in his ear. His face lit up and picked her up again, and headed for the door, waving goodbye to their friends as they left.

"I think I'm going to join McSteamy in the bathroom after witnessing that." Cristina muttered.

* * *

Derek was much better off than Addison. Addison was bringing Mark seltzer water as he threw up in their toilet. On the other hand, Derek was holding Meredith's arms back above her head. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, and the noises she was making could be described as nothing short of screaming.

Derek didn't mind it when Meredith got extremely drunk. In fact, he thought to himself in a lust filled haze, he rather enjoyed it. Her nails dug into his wrists as she writhed beneath him. She closed her eyes, threw her head back and called out his name, and Derek let her arms go, unable to hold it in himself. Meredith's hand found his hair and tangled there for the last few minutes. He rolled off of her, and looked over smiling.

"Oh my God." Meredith said breathlessly. "That was… oh my God." She frowned. Derek lifted himself onto his elbow and looked down at her. She swung over the edge of the bed, and stumbled into the hallway. "Throwing up now." She muttered.

* * *

The next morning, Meredith's interns hovered by the nurse's station, where Meredith stood with Derek, Addison, Mark, Alex and Izzie. Meredith was smiling, and Mark was glaring at her. "Of course you had to be all bright eyed and bushy tailed." He growled. Meredith grinned.

"Hey, I was sick last night." She said. "I just had something to distract me from it."

"Yeah, it distracted you for four hours." Alex complained.

Meredith laughed. "You have somewhere else to sleep." She told him.

"Well I don't." Izzie interjected, "And I do actually like to sleep. And your screaming orgasms are not conducive to sleeping."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Exaggerate much?" she asked. "I do not scream." Alex and Izzie gave her a look, and Derek stood next to her looking smug.

"Give me a break," Izzie said. "Oh my God, Derek, that's so good. Oh, Oh God. Yes Meredith you do scream." Meredith blushed a deep red and Derek smirked over her head at Mark and Addison. Izzie turned to him. "Oh, like you don't McDreamy." She started mimicking again. "Oh my God, yes, Mer, that's perfect. God, you're beautiful." She rolled her eyes, and noticed her friends were all focused on the steps behind her. She whirled around. "Chief Webber. How awkward."

The chief crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrows. "You think this makes me comfortable? Leaving the hospital when I don't know if you all are going to be saving lives, or just milling around, talking about your sex lives. Stevens, this is not the set of a porn movie. Shepherd, I've passed you in an on call room, you're both pretty damn loud. The rest of you, this is a hospital. Save lives. Go."

They dispersed, Meredith's interns snickering at her as they went. Another day had started on Seattle.


	7. Chapter 7

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**Ok. So the last chapter was silly. But it's not all going to be light. There are still some serious issues between Meredith and Derek, mainly his tendency to let her down and that leading to her mistrust of him. Those will come to light. Um, yea. Keep hating Bridget. And enjoy the baby drama? **

**REVIEW. **

_Now I'm ready to be extraordinary. _

Bridget spotted his dark hair immediately. He was scribbling notes in his chart at a nurse's station sipping from a cup of coffee. She strode over to him and leaned against the counter, her hair failing into place, her bangs hanging in her face perfectly. "Dr. Shepherd?" she asked, biting her lip and smiling as he looked her way. She looked up at him through her thick, mascara covered eyelashes, and Derek smiled in spite of himself. She was something else.

"What can I do for you, Dr. Neilson?" he asked. She smirked and grinned; satisfied that she had his attention. She stood to her full height, knowing that her scrub top was snug enough to show off her perfect C cups.

"During rounds this morning, I discovered that one of Dr. Burke's post op patients was complaining of headaches. I was wondering if I could get a consult." She asked, licking her lips both absentmindedly and suggestively. Derek sighed and suppressed a smile. The ambition of interns.

"Lead the way." He said, following her down the hall. Meredith, who was just getting off the elevator, narrowed her eyes at Derek and Bridget, strolling casually down the hall. She laughed at something he said and moved closer to him. Meredith rolled her eyes and shook it off for now. Her pager beeped at her side and she ran off to the pit to get the incoming trauma.

"Dr. Grey!" Tyler shouted. "We've got a third trimester car crash victim. Her head hit the windshield hard enough to break it. Obviously neurological." Meredith nodded. The patient was conscience, which was a good sign.

"Okay." She said. "Page Addison. And page Derek." She said to Tyler, who nodded. Meredith bit her lip. Bridget was supposed to be with her today, but she had disappeared with Derek. "I'll take her to get a CT. Have them meet me there. And go ahead and book an OR." Tyler gave her a look, but scurried off to do it anyway.

"How's it look?" Addison asked her fifteen minutes later, popping her head into the room where Meredith was looking at the woman's CT.

"She's got a pretty sizeable clot." Meredith said. "But it's right in the forebrain, so it shouldn't be too hard…" she trailed off. "Where the hell is Derek?" Addison flipped open the chart and shook her head.

"Doesn't matter where Derek is. With the baby this close to term, she needs to be stable right now. Can you handle this?" Meredith looked at the clot and bit her lip hesitantly. "Meredith." Addison said, her voice reminiscent of the days when she was McWife and Meredith was Dr. Grey. "Can you handle this?" she asked slowly. Meredith nodded. Addison smiled. "Then let's go."

* * *

Their surgery behind them, they walked together to an outside table and joined Izzie and Cristina. "Meredith, I'm impressed." Addison said. "That was… that was pretty flawless."

Meredith smiled wryly. "Except for the terrifying moment I almost punctured into her midbrain."

"Except for that." Addison said. Izzie smiled across the table at her friend.

"Mer, you were a rock star." She said. "We were in the gallery. Very impressive. I can't believe you did that alone."

"Neither can I." she said, stabbing a noodle bitterly with her fork. "You know where he was? Strolling through the corridors with Bridget Neilson! And they didn't answer their pages." She dropped her fork and looked up, her jaw hanging open. "Oh my God! What could they be doing that they wouldn't answer her pages?" She shook her head. "I trust him. He wouldn't." She smiled weakly at them and showed them the glittering diamond on her finger. "He wouldn't, right?"

Addison nudged Izzie. "Is she okay?" she asked, taking a sip from her water bottle.

Cristina rolled her eyes. "Of course he wouldn't. And neither would Burke. It's just these freaking _interns_." She spit out. "Since when did it become appropriate for an intern to throw herself all over an attending surgeon? That Kiara Lennox? She's all 'oh my God, Preston Burke!' while she bats her eyelashes and talks about how inspiring it is to see a black surgeon."

Meredith made a face and shoveled more pasta into her mouth. "I know." She said through her mouthfuls. "I saw Bridget and Derek at the nurse's station this morning, and she was just flirting with him shamelessly. And he was smiling at her like, oh the hot young thing is interested in me." She said disgustedly. Izzie snorted into her soup. "What?" Meredith asked.

Izzie and Addison exchanged a glance. "The kettle called for you guys." Izzie said. "And the kettle says to stop calling him black."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "Oh please. I did not throw myself at Burke. He came onto to me."

Meredith made a face and flung her hand in the air again. "This ring? It means we're getting married. Like, thou shalt not commit adultery?" Addison shot her a pointed look. Meredith gave her a weak smile. "Yeah, okay, I'm leaving now." She said, standing from the table. Addison's pager went off and she looked at Meredith.

"Mrs. Winters is in labor." She said.

"Can she handle it so soon after surgery?" Meredith asked. Addison shook her head. "I'm going to have to find out."

* * *

Meredith and Mark sat in the gallery watching Addison perform a C-section on Mrs. Winters. Mark looked over at Meredith, and she plucked the coffee cup from his hands and started sipping from it. "Heard you hit one out of the park today, Grey." He said.

Meredith shrugged listlessly. Mark eyed her and took his coffee back. "Really? You flew solo, and pulled it off without a hitch and you're not even excited."

She pouted. "I tried to page Derek. And my intern. But neither of them answered. Last seen strolling down a hallway together." Mark smiled to himself.

"Mer, come on. I saw them half an hour ago in the CT room. She needed a consult for Burke. You know that you've destroyed my best friend, right? He worships the ground you walk on." Meredith smiled to herself and together they settled back in their seats and Meredith made a move for his coffee. He rolled his eyes and handed it to her.

"Can't you drink your fiancée's coffee?"

Meredith scrunched up her nose. "He uses too much cream." Mark laughed and they both looked back down into the gallery. Meredith pulled out her pager to check for anything from Derek, but there was nothing. To her side, she felt Mark tense.

"Addison!" he shouted. Meredith looked down into the OR to see Addison crumbling to the floor, clutching her own abdomen. She abandoned the coffee and followed Mark out of the gallery, both of them running. Meredith tied a scrub mask on Mark's face and held her own to her mouth as they entered the OR and knelt next to Addison. Mark stroked her hair and called her name while Meredith checked for a pulse.

"She's not conscious." Mark said.

"Pulse is weak." Meredith responded. She looked up at the operating table, noticing the glance of panic on Izzie's face.

"Mer, will you page someone from neo natal?" Izzie asked. One of the scrub nurses checked the monitor and shook her head.

"Dr. Stevens, there isn't time. Both mom and fetal heart rate are dropping. She's losing blood."

Meredith locked eyes with Izzie and nodded her head. "No fear, Iz. You can do this." She prompted. Izzie nodded and drew a deep breath, picking up the ten blade and working on exposing the uterus. Meredith looked down as Addison's body tensed. "Mark, I think she's contracting." Meredith said. Mark scooped Addison up in his arms and carried her into the hallway, Meredith right behind him. Frantic, she pulled out her pager and sent one more page to Derek.

She shook her head to clear him from it, setting her intentions on getting a gurney for Addison. When Mark had laid her down, they headed for the elevator, and Meredith hit the button for the floor of the neo natal wing. Mark's normally tanned face was chalky white. Meredith laid a hand on Addison's stomach, sighed in relief, then grabbed Mark's hand and squeezed it. "Baby's still kicking." She said.

Mark sagged against the wall of the elevator in obvious relief, and gripped Meredith's hand in the still present fear that something was wrong with Addison. "Hey," Meredith said. "This is Addison we're talking about. Satan, refused to be paralyzed because no one would notice her heels Addison. She'll pull through this, whatever it is." Mark nodded gratefully at her, glad to hear someone say the things he couldn't dare to hope to think.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing Derek whose fist clenched as he saw Meredith's hand in Mark's. He looked at his friend's face, ready to hit him, but noticed his expression first. He glanced into the elevator and saw the gurney behind them. "It's Addison." Meredith hissed angrily. "Either get on or go." Derek blinked, confused at her harsh demeanor and stepped into the elevator and clutched Mark's shoulder as they rode to neo natal.


	8. Chapter 8

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**It's so hard to write nice Derek when he's being such a jerk on the show, but we tried at the end. Basically, just stick with us, and we hope you like it.**

**REVIEW.**

Meredith stepped out of the small trauma room as they wheeled Addison towards the OR. All of their friends were standing in small, close knit group. She sighed and shook her head. "They don't know what went wrong, but the fetal heart rate is low. There's practically no oxygen getting to the baby. They're taking her for a C-section now." She said. She looked at Izzie. "Iz, at her last check up Addison told them that if anything went wrong she wanted you in the OR."

Izzie raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Me?" she echoed. Meredith nodded. Izzie took a deep breath, nodded and followed the gurney Addison was on. Izzie gone and left with nothing to do but worry, the crowd dispersed, until Meredith was left facing Derek. Her jaw was set and her eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

"Mer?" he questioned, worried and wondering why she was acting this way. He ran a hand through his hair and kept on looking at her, confident that if he stared at her long enough, she would open up. Instead she turned away from him.

"I'm going to go sit with Mark in the gallery." She said coldly. Derek watched her back as she jogged lightly towards the gallery. She didn't look back once as she put distance in between them. Derek ran a hand through his hair feeling a familiar uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. He shook it off and set to filling out the chart from his morning's surgery.

* * *

Meredith sunk down into a chair in the gallery next to Mark. She clutched his shoulder and he smiled over at her. "It's going well." He said. "Stevens just said the baby is close enough to term." He frowned. "Of course they don't know what was wrong with her…"

"Mark. It's Addison. She's going to be on her feet bossing us around in no time." She reminded him. He grinned at her and slung an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in for a one armed hug.

"Thanks Meredith." He said genuinely. She smiled and settled back in her seat. "So did you give it to Derek yet?" Mark asked. She was about to respond when she heard a commotion at the door. She looked and recognized Cristina's intern Kiara and one of Izzie's interns. Kiara was frowning and talking animatedly.

"I go into the room for rounds and Bridget freaking Neilson is already rounding on my patient. My patient. And then she goes to Shepherd, and by some ridiculous injustice, the guy has a clot, and she scrubs in on the surgery for being diligent. I would have done a CT too if she hadn't stolen my patient." Meredith's face reddened and Mark let out a low whistle.

"Give me your pager." Meredith demanded, holding out her hand. Mark didn't say anything; he just handed it over to her, and sighed, watching as she sent a page. Minutes later, Bridget appeared in front of them, smiling coyly, biting her lip.

"You paged, Dr. Sloan?" she asked, flipping her chestnut locks over her shoulder. Meredith narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The gallery was crowded. Bailey was there. Derek had just appeared, and was leaning in the doorway. Cristina, multiple interns, Alex. They were all there. Meredith steeled her resolve. She had to set an example.

"That would have been me." She said. "I paged you all day and you didn't answer." She said coolly. Bridget smirked.

"Yea, I was in surgery with Dr. Shepherd."

"You were with me today, Neilson." Meredith said, standing. "Let's get a few things straight. When you do rounds, you round on the patients whose charts you have. You do not round on other interns patients." She shouted, her voice rising. "You do not steal patients to get in on surgeries." She lowered her voice and leaned in very close whispering in her ear. "And you do not go near my fiancée." She hissed. She straightened up and raised her voice. "When I page you, you will answer, you will do what you're supposed to. And until you learn that, you're on scut. Got it?"

She turned around calmly. "Anyone need any rectal exams?" she asked. Cristina and Bailey each handed her a few charts, which she passed to Bridget. "Have a nice day, Dr. Neilson." She said. Cristina's interns turned to her friend and started whispering.

"I told you she stole my patient." She hissed. "God, Dr. Grey has…"

"Ballsy, Mer." Cristina said. Meredith set her eyes on Derek who looked confused. She squeezed Mark's shoulder again, and told him she would be back later.

She laid her eyes on Derek. "You. Now." She said, tugging him into the hallway.

"Wasn't that a little much?" he asked. Meredith's jaw dropped.

"Seriously, Derek? Seriously?" she demanded. "She stole a patient to get alone time with you and a surgery. How do you think I felt when I needed you today, and I paged you about ten times, and you didn't answer? The last I saw, you were walking down the hall with my intern. I cut into someone's brain today, Derek and I needed help. I needed you and you didn't even answer my pages!" Her hands were shaking with anger.

"The patient did need surgery." Derek defended. "It was important."

"This isn't about the freaking patient. You had all those hours after the surgery to find out why I paged you, and you didn't, Derek. So, just…" she shook her head. "Just go, okay?"

"Meredith…"

"No. I'm angry because I needed your help and you weren't there, but I'll get over it. So just go before this turns into something bigger than it has to okay?" Derek nodded and walked away. Even though she asked him to, Meredith hadn't expected him to go. She stood outside the gallery for a few minutes, until she felt a presence next to her.

"You did well with her, Grey." Bailey said. Meredith nodded, knowing that at least, she did something right today. "And Grey? I heard from your scrub nurses about that surgery. You didn't need his help. You got it on your own."

* * *

Derek walked down the hallway, frowning. "Shepherd." Burke called. Derek stopped and walked over to his friend. "How's Addison doing?" he asked.

Derek nodded. "Surgery's almost done. She's stable and the baby is close enough to term to make it out just fine." Burke nodded. Derek and turned to him. "Meredith yelled at me." He confessed.

Burke chuckled. "What did you do now?" he asked. Derek frowned, but considered the question. He had let her down, again. Like he always ended up doing somehow.

"She went into surgery. She needed my help, and I knew she was paging me, but I just forgot to page her back later." He said. "Do you think that…?" He trailed off. "Do you think there's some kind of reason? That I always end up letting her down?"

Burke crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You don't always let her down. You're there for her when it counts, Derek." He said, picking up his own pager. "We can finish this later." He said, heading for the OR floor. Derek's eyes caught smoke swirling in the air outside the window. He headed for the door and popped his head out.

"Dr. Neilson." He said. She grinned and took a drag off of her cigarette.

"Dr. Shepherd." She countered. "What brings you to the land of exiled interns?" she asked, biting the flesh of her lip suggestively.

"Sorry about that." Derek said, shrugging. "I should have disciplined you myself. You never told me you stole the patient."

Bridget grinned and dropped one eye down into a lazy wink. "You probably wouldn't have let me scrub in then, would you, Dr. Shepherd?" He moved outside the door, and leaned against a railing, opposite her.

"Probably not." He admitted, smiling. He paused and looked at her. Izzie was babbling the other day about how she was famous for nothing, a socialite like those Hilton girls. "Why are you here, Dr. Neilson? Why surgery?"

She shrugged. "I could star in my own reality show, but really, I'm too smart for that." She said, winking again, and tossing her cigarette on the ground. "The question is," she asked huskily, "why not?" she brushed past him as she moved for the door. "I'll see you later, Dr. Shepherd." She said. When Derek followed her inside a few minutes later, he was met by Cristina. She was standing right in front of the door; her legs planted firmly, her arms folded.

"Stop it now." She said. "Stop it now or give her up."

"Yang…" Derek started.

Cristina shook her head, fire in her eyes. "I know that you and I are friends these days, but in this moment, you are _marrying_ my best friend. If you want to flirt with conniving interns, call it off. But if you love Meredith, stop with Neilson." Derek nodded, dumbstruck, realizing that she had been flirting with him. And he had been flirting back.

"Yeah." He said. "Okay." He shuffled his weight from one foot to the other and looked down, away from the intense, piercing stare of Cristina. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I swear to God, if I ever so much as hear a whisper of anything between you and that intern, I will hunt you down, and perform a valve replacement with a rock instead of a new valve and absolutely no anesthetics, do you understand?" Derek swallowed and nodded.

"Fine. See you at Joe's then, Derek." Cristina said, almost pleasantly. Derek shook his head, wondering what he was doing. He started off quickly towards the gallery, but ran into Meredith getting off the elevator.

"She's stable, and the baby is doing well." Meredith said, trying to push past him. Derek grabbed her wrist and held on tight, dragging her to a more secluded hallway.

"I'm sorry." He said, as soon as they were alone. "I'm an ass sometimes, Mer. You know that. And I really am sorry. I hate…" he swallowed. "More than anything, I hate feeling like I've let you down." The harsh look on Meredith's face softened.

"Hey," she said, brushing a lock of hair out of his eyes. "You haven't let me down, okay? I may have let my jealous imagination run a little wild, and I over reacted."

Derek shook his head. "I should have been there." Meredith smiled, and traced his lips with her fingers.

"You're here now." She whispered. Derek leaned down and snaked his arms around, pulling her close for a kiss.

"Yeah." He whispered. "I'm here now."


	9. Chapter 9

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**So this chapter is tying up some loose ends, and pretty short, but it segways into Bridget being a slut and trying to seduce Derek, etc. **

**REVIEW.**

"Joe, get this guy a drink." Meredith demanded, pointing towards Mark. "He's a daddy." She said, grinning, squeezing Mark's shoulder. He smiled so hard he thought his face might crack.

"Congratulations, McSteamy." Joe said, placing a glass in front of him.

Mark grinned. "Thanks, Joe." He paused. "It's a girl." He said softly. "We haven't named her yet, because Addie's still pretty out of it, but they're both fine. And I have a daughter." He smiled and sipped his drink. Meredith grinned over at him. With Addison still in the hospital and Derek on call, they had come to Joe's together.

"What happened to her?" Joe asked.

"Her placenta tore." Mark said. "And the baby was sort of losing it's life force. But they did a C section, and Addison turned out fine." He told them, relief obvious in his voice. "She's fine."

Meredith smiled at him, her eyes traveling behind him to the door, where Bridget was leaving. Her eyes narrowed instinctively, but she shook it off. She refused to be jealous or wary of her intern. She turned back to Mark. "When's McMommy coming back to work?" she asked, winking at Joe.

Mark rolled his eyes. "_Addison_," he said pointedly. "Only wants to take two weeks."

Meredith smiled. "She'll be like super mom." She said doubtlessly. "Leave it to Addison to raise an amazing daughter and still save other people's kids." She said, grinning.

"Hey." Mark said. "We'll always need baby sitters."

* * *

Derek was leaning in the doorframe of the room, watching his ex wife. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that she had a child now. A baby of her own, instead of just other people's to operate on.

"You going to come in and congratulate me, or are you going to lean in the doorway all night?" Addison asked. Derek shook his head and grinned, and made his way into the room to sit on the chair next to her bed.

"Congratulations, Addie." He said. "I saw the baby. She's beautiful."

Addison smiled. "She is, isn't she?" Derek laughed and kissed his ex wife's cheek. She smiled back, and then remembered why she was supposed to be mad at him. "I'd smack you if I could right now." She said.

Derek frowned. "What did I do?"

Addison shook her head. "Be careful with that intern, Derek. She's trouble, okay?"

At that point the intern in question was getting very tired of eavesdropping on Meredith and Mark chatting about babies and making fun of each other. Bridget lit a cigarette and rolled her eyes at the death glare Cristina Yang shot her as she dropped onto a barstool next to Meredith, followed closely by Preston Burke.

"Hey, McDaddy." Cristina quipped to Mark. "Congratulations, Sloan. Where's McDreamy?" She asked, looking around as if she expected him to materialize at Meredith's side.

Meredith frowned. "He's on call tonight." She said, her lower lip jutting out in a slight pout.

Mark reached out and mussed her hair. "Aww…" he teased. "No sex for you tonight. Poor baby." Bridget listened to their exchange with heightened interest. A slow tingle spread through her body. Derek was still at the hospital, and would be all night. She threw some bills on the bar and slid off of her stool. Meredith and Cristina were engrossed in a conversation about the audacity of Nurse Debbie and neither pair of eyes noticed her leaving, but she caught Mark Sloan's eyes narrowing as she left.

Mark watched Bridget slink out of the bar, looking every bit like the jet setting brand of sex goddess she tried to be. He shook his head at Meredith as her eyes followed his and darkened. "Mer…" he started, trying to find a tactful way to tell her to watch the intern.

Meredith just nodded. "Yeah." She said tightly.

* * *

Derek was standing in front of the board when he felt someone settle next to him. He looked over and saw the now familiar head of glossy chestnut hair. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "Dr. Neilson." He said pleasantly.

"Dr. Shepherd." She said, her voice low and husky.

"Still on scut?" he asked shooting her a grin.

She made a face and nodded. "Still on scut." She responded. "But come on, who doesn't love rectal exams?" she deadpanned.

Derek shook his head, and cast a sidelong glance at the board. "Hey," he said. "I've got a craniotomy in twenty minutes. If you don't tell my fiancée, you can scrub in." he joked. Her face lit up.

"I can scrub in?" she repeated. "On your craniotomy?"

"Let's go, Dr. Neilson." Derek said.

"That was incredible." Bridget breathed two hours later as they discarded they gloves. "Just…wow." She looked at him, knowing her eyes were bright, impressed and wide. Really, she didn't give a shit about the surgery. Yea, it was cool, but this was about so much more. "God, Dr. Shepherd. That's just… such a high."

Derek smiled. "You did well, Dr. Neilson." He said. She leaned against the sink, facing him in the small room. She took off her scrub cap, shaking her shiny hair, letting it drop loosely over her shoulders.

She smiled coyly at him. "You want to get a drink or something?" she asked him innocently.

"I'm on call, Bridget." Derek told her gently.

"Some other time then." She said.

Derek shook his head. "Dr. Neilson, there's Meredith. I'm engaged. It wouldn't be…" he trailed off as Bridget took a few steps, closing the gap between them quickly. She put a hand on the back of Derek's neck, drawing his head close to her, and pressing her body against his.

She leaned in towards his ear and whispered, "Meredith would never know." She slid her tongue over her lips and eyes him as she headed to the door. "Think about it, Derek." She said, leaving him alone in the room.


	10. Chapter 10

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**Okay. So you're all mad at Derek. So are we. But now that we've gotten into this story, we realize that our Derek cant be all…dreamy. The Derek in this story is haunted by all the times he's let Meredith down, and he's not McDreamy right now. So just stick with us, cause we do promise a happy ending. **

**REVIEW.**

"So what's her name?" Callie asked as they gathered in neonatal, where Mark and Addison's daughter was being discharged. Addison's jaw dropped.

"Oh my God." She said, her jaw gaping. "We're already the worst parents ever. She's been in the hospital for four days, and we haven't even named her. This is a bad sign."

Mark suppressed a smile and took one of her hands in his. "It's not a bad. And we're not the worst parents ever. We can name her right now."

"We have to!" Addison practically shouted, panicking. "We can't just not name our own baby!" Mark smiled and picked her up gently, cradling her in his arms. Derek arched an eyebrow at his friend.

"What?" Mark demanded, turning slightly so the baby could see Addison.

Derek chuckled. "Who would have ever thought you would have taken so well to fatherhood?" He asked, looping an arm around Meredith's waist. Mark made a face at him, as if to say he'd never lost his edge, but his face softened as he looked down at his daughter.

"What about Sloan?" Callie suggested. "Sloan Montgomery. And then she'd have both of your names." Addison looked down at her friend who was sharing a chair with George.

"I like it." Addison said, nodding her approval. She turned to Mark. "What do you think?"

Mark shook his head. "That's ridiculous. She'd have my name twice."

"She's taking your name?" Derek asked before he could stop himself. Mark shrugged.

"Of course she is. I was kind of hoping her mom would too eventually. I mean, I have to buy a ring bigger than your last one and propose to you in some ridiculously romantic location, but I mean, I assumed, eventually…"

The eyes of Mark, Callie, George, Derek and Meredith were fixed on Addison, whose face was turned towards the ground. When she looked up, there were tears glistening in the corner of her eyes. "Ashlyn." She said. "Ashlyn Marie Sloan."

Mark grinned at her and placed a kiss on Addison's temple. "Ashlyn Marie Sloan." He repeated slowly. "It's perfect." Addison intertwined her hand in his and looked around.

"Where the hell is Stevens?" she demanded. "I'm asking her to be the godmother." She smiled at Callie and Meredith. "You two can fight over the next one."

Meredith suppressed a smile. As much as she loved Addison and Mark, she was far more likely to take Ashlyn to a bar while she was severely underage than to be a godmother. She remembered Addison's inquiry about Izzie. "Izzie…" she mused. "I haven't seen her since lunch. Or Alex…" she trailed off. "Check the linen closets." She suggested with a nonchalant shrug.

Addison wrinkled her nose and said something to Callie. Derek slid his arms around Meredith's waist. "You ready to go?" he whispered in her ear. She rolled her eyes and nodded; knowing Derek had been looking forward to this all day. They bid their goodbyes, rode the elevator down to the lobby and strode hand in hand out of Seattle Grace.

"I can't believe they have a baby." Meredith said. "A real, living, crying baby."

Derek laughed at her as they slid into his car. "We'll have one someday." He said lightly. Meredith's head shot up from her seat belt and she stared at him wide eyed.

"Like a baby?" She asked, incredulous. She had never factored that into her life. Derek smiled and put the car in drive, pulling out of his parking space, and heading for the parking exit that would take them to Joe's.

"Yeah, like a baby." He gently mocked her. "They grow into kids, you know. God, can you imagine having kids? Teaching them how to fish. Sneaking them into the gallery to see surgeries…"

Meredith looked at his grinning profile and smiled. "You want this." She said.

"Do you? Want this?" Derek asked tentatively.

Meredith shrugged. "I never really thought about it. I never thought it would be, you know, in the cards. But when I'm done with the residency, I mean, I think maybe I kind of do…" she trailed off as Derek maneuvered the car into a space at Joe's.

"We have plenty of time to have kids." He murmured in her ear as they strolled inside. She looked up at him with wide, trusting eyes and Derek felt the familiar fear that he would never be able to be everything she deserved.

* * *

Bridget was seething. She was sitting at the bar at Joe's watching Derek and Meredith very carefully, and he hadn't looked at her once. And that didn't happen to Bridget Neilson. _Every_ guy looked at her at least once. Especially one she was trying to seduce. They usually looked at her once a minute. She picked up her glass and dumped the rest of it down her throat, glaring at her resident.

Meredith's light giggle rang throughout the bar as she sat across the table from Derek, her back to Bridget. They were poring over a stack of magazines and a few notebooks. "Derek, that's hideous," she heard Meredith squeal. "It looks like a curtain."

"I thought it was nice." He said, teasing her, obviously hating it as well.

"I'm not getting married in something that looks like the upholstery on your mother's love seat." Meredith said. "Maybe I should just go to New York to do this. Your sisters know dresses."

Bridget practically gagged as she realized that they were sitting in this bar, planning their wedding. "Joe…" she whined, holding out her glass. He shook his head and mixed her a new drink.

"You want some advice. Bridget?" Joe asked. "This isn't New York, and it's not L.A. It's not your speed, I know that. Find a different way to deal with it." He said, his eyes wandering towards Meredith and Derek. Bridget rolled her eyes and lit a cigarette, struggling to keep her composure.

Meredith sighed and sipped her drink. She watched Derek evaluating how much they had to get done tonight. "Are we finished yet?" she asked.

Derek shot her a look. "Meredith Grey. We're getting married soon. Quite soon, actually, in four months. We need to plan this wedding." He made a face and wrote something else on his list. "Not that you're doing any planning."

She pouted at him. "We can plan tomorrow. We can pay Izzie to plan. Actually, she'd probably pay us to plan a wedding." Meredith mused. She put her hand on Derek's knee and slid it up his thigh. "There are so many better things we could be doing." She whispered, arching an eyebrow suggestively.

Derek looked over dramatically crestfallen. "Sex trumps wedding?" he asked. Meredith shrugged and leaned in to whisper in his ear, sliding her hand up his thigh to the crotch of his jeans as she did so.

"I like sex." She whispered.

Derek cleared his throat. "You know what, I do think you're more on task with Izzie around. We should call her. Have her come over here." Meredith giggled as he pulled out his Treo and texted Izzie.

She slid out of her chair slowly, brushing against him as she did. "I think I'm going to go to the bathroom while we wait for Izzie." She said. No sooner had she started walking, he had jumped up to follow her.

* * *

Izzie had gotten herself a drink and was sitting, with Alex at the table strewn with wedding literature when Derek and Meredith emerged from the bathroom. Izzie rolled her eyes. Meredith was glowing, and a little breathless. Her hair was a mess and her cheeks were flushed. Derek looked to be in a similar state. "Hi guys." She said, sitting down.

Derek hovered, standing, signaling to Joe that they needed more drinks. Alex made a face. "Dude, your fly is down." He announced to Derek, who blushed and turned on his heel, and made his way back into the bathroom. Alex smirked at Meredith. "Was it good?"

Izzie snorted as Meredith smoothed her hair and blushed. "Alex, quit looking at my boyfriend's fly."

"Fiancé." Derek corrected, sitting back down, bearing more drinks. "And she's got a point, Karev." Alex muttered something and rolled his eyes.

Izzie gave his knee a squeeze under the table and clapped her hands together. "So what have you guys accomplished?" she asked. Meredith looked down guiltily. "Nothing?" Izzie asked. "God, it's your wedding."

Derek jerked a thumb at Meredith. "She was distracting me." He said, grinning.

"Oh I was? It's not my fault you have no self control."

"Well, you created a little situation, Dr. Grey." He said, winking. Meredith blushed and whispered something in his ear. Izzie rolled her eyes.

"Okay! Enough. Wedding, people. Nuptials. Can you focus for one hour?" Meredith and Derek nodded like school children who had gotten into trouble, and Izzie, beaming, started babbling about flowers.

Bridget listened to them talk and bicker until she couldn't take it anymore. One more word about dresses or cakes or anything wedding related and she would have screamed. So she slid down from her barstool and laid money on the bar for Joe. Just as Izzie was babbling about a bridal shower that Meredith was vehemently opposed to, she reached their table.

"Dr. Shepherd?" she asked, smiling sweetly. "I just wanted to thank you again for letting me scrub in on your craniotomy last night. It really was a fantastic learning experience." Bridget turned on her heel and walked out the door, but she turned back in time to see the look of fury on her resident's face.

And it was priceless.


	11. Chapter 11

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**Okay. So you're all mad at Derek. So are we. But now that we've gotten into this story, we realize that our Derek cant be all…dreamy. The Derek in this story is haunted by all the times he's let Meredith down, and he's not McDreamy right now. So just stick with us, cause we do promise a happy ending. **

**REVIEW.**

"Seriously?" Meredith shouted at Derek. She whirled around to face him in the misty rain. After Bridget's announcement, she had stalked outside. "Derek, what the hell is going on? You knew I had her on scut. And you knew why. So you, what? Give her a surgery?"

She ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "Meredith…" he said.

She shook her head. "No. Don't Meredith me! You can't undermine my authority over her. You can't…" she trailed off. "Derek if you… do you have feelings for her?" she asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

Derek closed the gap between them in seconds and cupped her cheeks with his hands. "Of course not, Meredith. You, you're the love of my life. You're the only girl I could ever… I love _you_." He told her, watching her face soften. "She just…. Well she comes onto me, and it's very flattering." Meredith's eyes flashed and she wrenched away from Derek.

"Flattering?" she practically spit at him. "For God's sakes Derek, you can be such an ass!" she shouted. "I don't care if she's flattering or whatever! You are an ass."

Derek winced in regret. "Mer, I'm sorry. That came out completely wrong." He stepped towards her and she backed away.

"She's an _intern_. She's a young, pretty, intern. She's like I was, Derek. Jesus, is this how it's going to be?"

"No!" he shouted. "You're making a big deal out of nothing, Mer." She stepped towards him, her eyes blazing dangerously.

"Nothing?" she yelled at him. "This is not nothing! Oh God, I'm getting out of here." Derek smirked, knowing that she had no where to go, since he had driven. Meredith moved towards his car, fishing in her purse and producing his keys, which he had given to her to hold. Derek groaned as she got into his car and locked the doors.

"Meredith!" he called, gesturing for her to roll down the window. "Mer, come on. I'm sorry."

She gestured to her ear, indicating that she couldn't really hear him, and turned the key in the ignition. With one final look at him, she peeled out of the parking lot. Derek ran a frustrated hand through his hair and stared at the direction she had gone in.

Inside Joe's Izzie and Alex had abandoned the table laden with wedding plans and moved to the bar. "I don't get them." Joe mused. "One minute they're clearly going at it against the wall of my bathroom. And then they're fighting like there's no tomorrow."

Alex shook his head and looked at Joe. "Twenty says she comes back in here steaming." Joe wiped the glass he was holding with a rag and shook his head.

"Double or nothing he's gonna be all…weepy."

Izzie rolled her eyes. "Sixty says she takes the car and leaves him here." They shook on it, and after a few moments of waiting, the bell sounded on the door. They looked up to see Derek standing there.

He shrugged dejectedly. "Izzie, I'm going to need a ride." He said. Izzie just smirked at Alex and Joe.

* * *

Meredith drove blindly. She thought about going to Cristina's but she and Burke had gone out that night and were probably in the throes that very moment, and she really didn't want to see that. Going home was not an option, because Derek would be there, and she had no interest in seeing him. 

Meredith looked around, got her bearings and realized she was heading for Mark and Addison's neighborhood. When they decided to have the baby, they had bought a huge, sprawling house not that far from hers. Left with no other choice, she drove until she pulled into their driveway.

With a resigned sigh, she rang their doorbell, marveling at how ornate the house was, how precise the landscaping was; even though both Mark and Addison appeared to live at the hospital. Mark swung the door open with Ashlyn in his arms. Addison padded down the hall behind him, carrying a baby blanket. "Meredith?" she asked.

Meredith looked at them, frowned and looked down at their stoop. "Do you think Derek likes Bridget Neilson?" she asked.

* * *

"Dude, we'll give you a ride. She'll make you sleep on the couch, but we can give you a ride." Alex said, trying to get Derek to come home.

Derek sighed and shrugged. "It's all right, Karev. I better stay out of her hair entirely tonight." Izzie crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. Derek noticed the gesture and winced.

"For a brain surgeon, you're really not the sharpest nail in the shed are you?" Izzie snapped.

"I'm still your boss Dr. Stevens." Derek mumbled, sounding pathetic to his own ears.

Izzie scoffed. "We live in the same house." She said. "And you are an idiot." She reached out and grabbed Alex's arm. "Let's go, Alex." She said. He shrugged and lowered himself into the car, starting the engine. Izzie rolled her eyes at Derek one last time and got in too. Derek sighed and shook his head. He thought about calling Mark, but decided against it. He began the slow hike back to the hospital.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized how easily he was falling into the intern's trap. He and Meredith were pawns in her game, and Derek was now realizing how much losing could cost him. When he reached the hospital, he was surprised to find her outside, cigarette in hand. She smiled at him coyly; he returned it with a frown.

"You did that on purpose. You said that to make her angry." Derek said.

Bridget smirked and took a long drag off of her cigarette. "Maybe I did." She said, smiling.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Enough!" he snapped at her. "You're here to learn to be a doctor, not to try and break up my engagement." With that he strode inside the hospital.

Bridget stomped on her cigarette and smirked. "Whatever you say, Dr. Shepherd." She said to herself, walking through the doors of Seattle Grace.

Derek wound his way through the halls of the hospital, a feeling of unease growing in the pit of his stomach. The fear that sometimes kept him up at night clawed at his insides. What if he would never be good enough for Meredith? What if he just kept letting her down? Derek decided to camp out in Mark's office, because he had a bigger couch. He settled onto the leather, suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to see Meredith.

* * *

Addison opened her mouth and shut it again; unsure of what was transpiring before her own eyes.

Meredith began pacing back and forth on their stoop. "Because he let her scrub in on his craniotomy. Even though he knew I put her on scut. And he said she likes him and its flattering. And he used to let me in on his surgeries… back when…" she looked guiltily at Addison. "Well, you know."

Addison bit her lip, unsure of how to answer this. She remembered the night Mark and Meredith had stumbled upon her kissing Derek, and she too felt guilty. She put her hand on Meredith's shoulder to stop her pacing. Meredith looked up at her with panicked eyes. "Come in." Addison said.

Meredith stepped over the threshold into the foyer, marveling at the house. "God it's clean in here." She muttered. Addison chuckled and took Ashlyn from Mark.

"Meredith, come in. Sit down." She said, leading them to the living room. "I'm going to make some tea." She said. Mark sat down on their leather couch and Meredith sprawled on the love seat.

"He'd tell you, wouldn't he?" she asked, ringing her hands. "If he had feelings for her…"

"Meredith." Mark said in a voice that somehow calmed her down. "He doesn't have feelings for Bridget. She might be a novelty, but trust me, Mer. Everything that Derek has ever done has been leading him to you, okay?"

Meredith shrugged. "I just…don't trust her."

"Or him." Addison said softly from where she was leaning against the doorframe. "Partly my fault. Partly his. Hell, it's all of our faults really. But I know this Meredith. He loves you." Meredith nodded and Addison moved back towards the kitchen as the tea kettle whispered. "Meredith?" she called. "You can stay here. Until you work it out with him."

* * *

The next morning, Izzie strode into the hospital, marching with a purpose. Her eyes blazed with fire, and her face was flushed. "Babe, I'm sure she's fine." Alex said from a few paces behind her, practically running to keep up.

"She probably is fine." Izzie admitted, "But I want Derek to worry about her." She cornered him in front of the board, before she stopped at the cart for coffee; before she popped into the locker room to change.

"Dr. Shepherd." She barked.

"Izzie…" he said slowly. "We live together. Derek." He said as if she were a child who couldn't remember such things. He frowned. "How mad was she?"

Izzie raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't know." She said.

Derek felt his chest tighten in panic. "You wouldn't know?"

"She didn't come home last night." Izzie said darkly, before spinning on her heel and walking away. Derek remembered the last time he'd let her down. He kissed Addison and she had to get her stomach pumped. His mind ran away, showing her lying in a gutter, the car in ruins. Fear gripped his heart, and he took off, his coffee abandoned, to find Meredith.


	12. Chapter 12

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**Yeah, we hate this chapter. It's pretty much filler, but we hope it entertains. This will be updated again (along with all fics) by Sunday. **

**REVIEW. (even if you hate it)**

Derek's legs pounded the floors of the lobby as he raced for the parking lot. He had to get to his car, and then he could just scour all of Seattle until he found her. It didn't matter how long it took him, or how many surgeries he missed. In that moment, all that mattered was Meredith, and making things right again.

He headed through the sliding lobby doors and his search ended there. She and Mark were climbing out of his car, each carrying coffee. She had two cups in her hands. Derek marched up to them, indignant. "What the hell is this?"

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Your ex wife took me in last night." She said, looking down awkwardly. She leaned back against his car and turned her head away, looking over the hospital, as if she were scrutinizing it for flaws in its design.

Mark took a sip of coffee and grinned. "Addie says that you're an idiot." He told Derek calmly.

"Meredith, I was worried about you." Derek stressed, ignoring Mark. "I'm so sorry, Mer. I'm an idiot. You know that."

She shrugged listlessly. "Whatever." She said, pushing herself off of the car and starting to move. She passed him and pushed one of the coffee cups into his hand as she did. Derek watched her walk away; torn between frustration and amusement.

He took a sip out of the coffee cup and looked at Mark. "She bought me coffee."

"She bought you coffee."

"What do I now?"

Mark grinned at him. "You grovel. And you make it up to her." He said. Derek made a face and Mark shrugged. "Don't listen to me if you've got a better idea. But I've been screwing up and making mistakes with women my whole life. I consider myself somewhat of an expert." He said.

Derek nodded. "I can't argue with that."

Derek finally tracked down the woman he was looking for. "I need to talk to you." He said to Cristina, grabbing her by the arm and ushering her into a nearby lounge. "I screwed up." He admitted.

Cristina snorted. "And this is supposed to surprise me?" she asked. Derek's eyes dropped to the floor, and he felt guilt and regret rise in his chest.

"Cristina." He said, seriously, "This is important. I need to make her see… How can I…?"

"What?" Cristina interrupted. "Bribe her back into being the blushing bride? Because someone has to do it. Give her surgeries. Buy presents. Shun the intern. You're a brain surgeon. You'll figure it out."

Derek nodded. He started to leave the room, but stopped. "Cristina, I can do this right? Because I feel like I can't. Like I'm always letting her down, but we can do this right?"

Cristina rolled her eyes. "Please McDreamy. You don't have a choice. You either do it, or you both fall apart." She said, leaving the room, leaving Derek to mull over her words.

* * *

They called Bailey the Nazi. There were times when Meredith hated her resident, but behind those surges of anger were respect and admiration. Yes, Miranda Bailey had taught them well. It was Bailey's influence that had Meredith Grey behind the nurse's station, pulling out the charts that would make the intern miserable. She separated them into piles. Discharge, rectal exams, paperwork and labs. When she had collected three days worth of busywork, she stepped back and admired her handiwork, wondering where she could put it all.

"Who's that for?" Mark asked, coming up behind her. Meredith turned around, her face contorted into an unpleasant scowl. "Ah," Mark said, "Our favorite intern. Should have guessed."

Meredith frowned and leaned down, hoisting one pile into his arms. "Conference room." She instructed.

Mark rolled his eyes. "Grey, you are aware I'm an attending, and very busy, right?"

"Mark, you're not doing anything. Just take them to the conference room." Meredith snapped. Mark hid a chuckle and did what she asked, shaking his head as they moved the piles quickly. "You know," Meredith said, "You'd think after everything, he wouldn't be so freaking stupid."

Mark laughed out loud at this. "You'd think, Mer." He said affectionately, reaching out to ruffle her hair like he might a little sister. Meredith made another face.

"I'm not six years old, Mark." She complained, reaching up to smooth her hair. She reached for her pager, and minutes later, Bridget appeared.

"Dr. Sloan." She said flirtatiously.

"Save it, intern." Mark said, earning a grin from Meredith.

Meredith crossed her arms over her chest and turned to Bridget. "Dr. Neilson." She said calmly. "In the conference room, you will find four piles of charts. First you'll discharge. Then you'll do rectal exams. Then, there's paperwork to be done, and after that, you can run labs. If you don't eat or go to the bathroom, you can probably finish it all by Thursday."

Bridget's jaw dropped. "You have got to be kidding me." She said.

Meredith smirked. "I'm quite serious." She said, pointing towards the conference room.

Bridget stared at her for a few more seconds, then started to shuffle towards the door. "Bitch." She muttered under her throat.

"Uh, what was that, Neilson?" asked Dr. Bailey, who was passing by. "Because I really hope I did not just hear you disrespecting your resident like that."

Bridget whirled around to face her. "So what if you did?" she demanded. "What the hell are you going to do about it?"

Bailey walked into the conference room and dropped the charts she was carrying on the table with the rest of Bridget's piles. Mark followed suit, taking his entire pile from the nurse's station and dumping it into Bridget's arms.

"Also," he said, reaching into his pocket, "Here's a list of patients Dr. Montgomery wanted someone to check on." He said, handing it to her, smiling. Fuming, Bridget grabbed a chart from the conference room and went to discharge.

* * *

"Dr. Grey." Derek said, sliding into the empty seat next to her in the cafeteria later. "I just scheduled a hemispherectomy tomorrow morning. I don't know if you've ever severed a corpus collosum before," he said, knowing full well she hadn't, "But if you're interested in scrubbing in, I'll need help."

Meredith sighed and picked at her food. When he first sat down, she was ready to say no to whatever he asked, but there was no way she could turn down..

"I think I could fit that in." she finally said lightly. Derek grinned, resisting the urge to lean over and kiss her on the mouth. Instead, he pecked her cheek and got up.

"Have a nice day, Meredith."


	13. Chapter 13

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**Okay. So you're all mad at Derek. So are we. But now that we've gotten into this story, we realize that our Derek cant be all…dreamy. The Derek in this story is haunted by all the times he's let Meredith down, and he's not McDreamy right now. So just stick with us, cause we do promise a happy ending. **

**REVIEW.**

Bridget sat in the gallery, seething. She scribbled something down onto the chart she was filling out and snapped the file shut. Three down, no less than sixty seven to go. She hated Meredith Grey. She looked down into the OR where her resident was assisting her fiancé in surgery. Bridget rolled her eyes and reached for a new chart.

In the OR, Meredith was squirming. She wanted this to be over. Things hadn't been the same lately, and all she wanted was to return to the days of making out in linen closets and planning their wedding at Joe's. She met Derek's eyes over the table, and she could see that he was smiling. She smiled back, despite her efforts not to. His eyes brightened, and Meredith knew that if he wasn't wearing a mask, she'd be able to see he was grinning.

"Dr. Shepherd?" Amanda Connor, one of Meredith's interns was holding a mask over her face, hovering by the doors of the OR. "Dr. Bailey says she needs you. She's in OR two and says it's urgent. And Dr. Sloan wants to know if you've finished your Harry Potter book yet."

Meredith stifled a laugh as what she could see of Derek's cheeks reddened. "Tell Dr. Sloan I'll deal with him later." He said to Amanda, as Meredith's eyes shone with the difficult of trying not to burst out laughing.

"And what about Dr. Bailey?" Amanda squeaked nervously.

Derek looked down at the patient's exposed brain and up at Meredith. He looked down and made several tiny incisions. "Mer," he said, his tone urgent, the playfulness gone, "this is your surgery now."

"Mine?" she echoed in disbelief.

"Sever the corpus collosum, divide the brain spheres. Just follow the procedure and close her up."

"Follow the procedure?" Meredith asked. She seemed to only be able to repeat what he said.

"You know it?" Derek challenged.

"I know it." She answered after a moment's hesitation.

"Meredith," he said gently. "Do you know this or not?"

"Yes." She said quickly. "I know it."

He smiled at her from across the table, a full on McDreamy smile and Meredith felt herself go weak in the knees. "Mer, I'm counting on you. You can do this." He told her. She nodded and he left the OR, doubled around, and snuck up into the gallery. He hid in the back, and waited for Mark to show up.

"How's she doing?" he asked, poking his head in the door.

"Amazingly." Derek said, pride evident in his voice. The sound drew the attention of her friends, who were all sitting in the front row of the gallery.

"Aren't you supposed to be with Bailey?" George asked.

"Am I?" Derek said innocently. Cristina rolled her eyes, but Izzie grinned.

"You planned this?" she asked. "That's really…."

"Dreamy?" George interjected.

"Dude, grow a pair." Alex suggested.

"Interns." Mark said, rolling his own eyes.

"We're not interns!" George and Izzie said in indignant unison. Mark flashed them a grin, and they turned back to watch Meredith, disgruntled. Derek couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was beautiful, even covered in scrubs. She worked diligently, and he watched intently. Eventually, everyone else in the gallery got paged away, or left for surgeries. Hours later, she looked up, exhausted, and Derek was leaning against the back wall of the gallery, smiling at her.

* * *

"You were amazing." He told her, as she followed her into the locker room later. "Absolutely fabulous. Mer, you just pulled off one of the toughest procedures in basic nuero. Maybe the toughest."

She turned to him, a huge grin spread across her face. "I did, didn't I?" he nodded. "You weren't with Bailey were you?" she asked, opening her locker and beginning to change quickly.

"Uhhh, no." he said. "About that. I wanted to give you something. To say I'm sorry."

She grabbed her tote bag and looked at him for awhile, not saying anything. Finally her face broke out into another grin. "Well, it was a pretty great way to say you're sorry." She said, leaning in and kissing him. His pager went off.

"Damn it." He muttered. "That's the GSW from this morning."

"Go." She said. "I'm going to Joe's with Alex and Izzie. I'll see you at home, okay?"

"I love you." He said seriously. "You were great."

"Go to the gunshot wound guy. He needs you more than I do right now." Derek ran out of the locker room, heading for the elevator. Bridget leaned against a wall and watched him go. She touched her pen to her lips thoughtfully. She had been saving her one secret weapon, but it was time to use it.

She smiled to herself. There was no guilt at tearing apart this couple. She checked her watch, trying to calculate when he would be out of surgery. Then she pulled her hair into a ponytail like Meredith's, and walked away.


	14. Chapter 14

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**Sorry it's been so long. Here's some action for you, though. If you think this is bad, wait until the next chapter, cause that's when shit really starts to hit the fan. **

**REVIEW.**

Meredith hopped onto a stool. "Mer!" Joe greeted her. "What can I get you?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. I have to be ready in case my patient takes a turn for the worse." She told him, grinning.

"These guys were just telling me about the big surgery. You forgive him yet?" Meredith blushed and shrugged, smiling sheepishly.

"Of course she has." Izzie said, grinning. "She always forgives Derek. Even when he makes out with Addison."

"He did not make out with Addison." Meredith said indignantly. She ran a hand through her hair, the dim light of the bar reflecting off of her engagement ring.

"But he did give her that rock." Alex said with a grin, earning an eye roll from Meredith. He reached over and patted her on the shoulder. "It's okay to sell out Grey."

Meredith was about to retort, but Izzie cut her off. "Well if the freaking wedding is still on, you're going to be busy. I made you a list of calls you need to make. The florist, the church, the reception hall, the catering company…" she took a breath, ready to go on but Meredith stopped her.

"The wedding was never off." She said strongly. "It would take hell _and_ high water to cancel this wedding."

Izzie took a sip of her drink and shook her head. "Don't jinx it, Mer. Don't jinx it."

Meredith shot her a look. "Joe, do you have coke?" she asked. "There's nothing to jinx, Iz. We're fine. Great."

"Famous last words." Alex said, flashing her a cheeky grin.

* * *

"Dr. Shepherd?" Bridget said, nervously, fiddling with the edge of her scrub top. Derek turned around, irritation evident in his face. He was tired of her games and her runaround.

"What?" he snapped, holding up his pager and sighing. "Damn it." He muttered. "Make it quick, Neilson."

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I was out of line, Dr. Shepherd. And immature, and I really hope I didn't cause any trouble." She said, smiling timidly. "I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do for you… make it up to you?"

Derek rolled his eyes at her. "You're a piece of work, Neilson, you know that?"

She looked appropriately embarrassed. "I've been told." She admitted with a shrug. "I can keep track of your pages if you need me to. Run around for you."

Derek considered it. It didn't seem like a bad idea; it seemed damn convenient, actually. "Yeah, all right." he said, handing over his pager. "Tell everyone who pages me I'm in OR 3, and make sure you come get me if there's anything urgent."

"Of course." She said, offering a shy smile. "I apologize, Dr. Shepherd."

"Actions speak louder, Neilson." He said, bounding off to the OR. She headed to the pit to answer his page, stopping by the nurse's station on her way.

"Hey Olivia?" she asked sweetly.

"What?" the nurse asked flatly.

"Dr. Shepherd asked me to monitor Dr. Grey's patient from this morning… Do you know if she's got her pager on her?" Olivia arched an eyebrow and nodded at Bridget, who smiled and practically skipped away.

* * *

An hour later, she checked the OR. She gauged the amount of time left in the procedure, and decided it was time. Pulling his pager out of the pocket of her scrubs, she paged Meredith with a 911.

"The baby is so cute." Meredith confirmed. "It's sharing genes of Addison and Mark. How could they possibly produce anything less than gorgeous? And it sleeps through the night too. I stayed there, right? And I swear, nothing."

"Wow." Izzie said, playing with a strand of hair. "I can't believe after all of that they had a baby."

"You're the godmother." Meredith said. "Shouldn't you be doing godmotherly activities? Buying little baby shoes and onsies?"

"Yea." Alex chimed in. "Practice. We'd have cute kids too, wouldn't we, honey?" he joked.

Izzie rolled her eyes and kissed him quickly. "And you're flagged." She said, sliding his drink out of reach. Meredith laughed at them and felt a vibration at her hip.

"Crap." She muttered. "911 from Derek. Must be my patient from this morning."

"Go get 'em doctor." Joe called as she said goodbye to Alex and Izzie, leaving them quarreling over who's features their potential children would get.

* * *

She met him in the stairwell. It was dark, pitch black almost. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she was in her scrubs. She didn't say anything, but waited for him to speak first. "Hey you." He said.

One step towards him was all he needed. He reached for her, and his tongue invaded her mouth instantly. She wrestled back with her own. Derek immediately felt something different in the kiss. In the seconds it took him to connect the pieces of the puzzle, the lights in the stairwell went on, and at the top of the stair case was Meredith, looking down at Derek kissing Bridget Neilson.


	15. Chapter 15

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**We call this... the aftermath. And to those of you who thought all the twists were over, think again. **

**REVIEW.**

"So the baby is okay?" Izzie asked eagerly.

Addison smiled and nodded. "She's in the child care center right now. I'm not back to work until next week, but there was an emergency."

Izzie, with Alex at her side, Cristina and Burke behind her and Mark next to Addison, was about to respond, but a commotion from the stairwell interrupted her.

"Meredith let me explain!" Derek called following her out of the stairs.

She whirled around and stared at him, eyes blazing, chest heaving. "Really Derek? Kissing Addison wasn't bad enough! You had to make out with my intern too?" Addison and Mark exchanged a look, Burke closed his hand around Cristina's wrist to keep her calm and Izzie laid her head on Alex's shoulder.

"She jinxed it." Izzie murmured.

"Meredith…" Derek said.

She cut him off by flinging her hand in his face. "See this Derek?" she yelled. "See this ring? Remember when you gave it to me and asked me to marry you? That was supposed to mean we were done with this! You're not supposed to be kissing my intern!"

Derek stood and let her words hit him, preferring her anger to her tears. Meredith's sadness was suppressed by her shock and blind rage, but as the image of Bridget snaking her hands into Derek's hair flashed in her mind, and tears welled in her eyes. "Damn it, Derek." She choked, wiping her eyes roughly with the back of her hands.

Derek moved towards her, reaching out and grabbing her shoulders. She backed away from him. "Don't touch me!" she snapped.

"She kissed me, Mer. Come on."

"You kissed her back!" Meredith exploded. "I saw you!"

"For a second! Until I realized it wasn't you!"

"It was long enough for her to get her hands in your hair!" Derek looked down at the floor.

"I'm so sorry." He said softly.

She stared at him, open mouthed and gaping. "I've heard that line before. Derek, I don't think I can do this. I just… I can't…"

Derek shook his head wildly. "No. No, I won't let you go. I need you, and I won't let you run away."

"I'm not running anywhere!" Meredith shouted. "You're pushing me away! Is this what you wanted?"

"Of course not. Mer, I'll make this up to you." Meredith sneered and rolled her eyes. "That or die trying." Derek continued.

"Oh don't do me any favors." Meredith snapped. Derek took a step toward her, reaching for her arm as she backed away.

"Mer, please." He said. "It meant nothing to me. Less than nothing. God, she's nothing."

She turned back to face him, her anger and hurt mixing together in a strangled scream as a few more tears slipped down her face. "Go fuck yourself Derek!" she shouted. Mark raised his eyebrows.

"Meredith, I'm sorry! We can fix this." Her shoulders shook as she succumbed to tears. She composed herself enough to look at him.

"Go to hell, Derek." She spit out, turning to run for the nearest door. Derek raised his eyes from the floor to her friends. Cristina and Izzie had already taken off after Meredith. Alex and Burke glared at him, but left for surgery. He looked at Addison and Mark, his oldest, closest friend and his ex wife for the solace he needed, but Addison's eyes were cold and Mark's arms were folded combatively.

Derek opened his mouth, but Addison spoke first. "I'm quite certain you've put this girl through enough." She said. "She didn't need this." Addison shook her head and walked away.

Derek stood, staring at Mark, who lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "She's still wearing the ring." Mark said quietly before walking away.

* * *

The person to find Meredith outside on a bench wasn't Cristina, Izzie or Addison who were all looking for her, it was Bridget. She sat down next to Meredith and looked up at the sky. The two of them were silent for a long time.

"I was twenty." Bridget finally said. "Happy. In love with my boyfriend of two years. I thought he was the one. One day, I answered his phone and Megan, my best friend at the time, started talking about last night." She paused and ran a hand through her hair. "The night he was supposed to be at the library. They had been hooking up for the better part of a year, and it ruined me for awhile."

She looked at Meredith, then down at the ground. "When I was okay again, I promised myself I would never be ruined again. So I started to ruin." She confessed.

Meredith sighed and nodded. "You get I'm feeling pretty ruined right now, right?" Bridget nodded.

"I get that." She whispered.

Meredith nodded back. "Okay."

Bridget swallowed hard. "He didn't kiss me back for long. Only until he figured out it wasn't you." She said.

Meredith shrugged. "Tied to a much larger issue. What if he kissed you to destruct the marriage before we actually got married?"

Bridget shook her head. "He really loves you." She said. Meredith sighed. Bridget lit a cigarette and offered one to her resident. Meredith reached out, lit one, and inhaled for the first time since sophomore year at Dartmouth. And there they sat.


	16. Chapter 16

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**WE ARE SO SORRY. We hope this makes up for the long delay in updates.**

**REVIEW.**

Meredith was sitting in her room, almost two hours later, perplexed. She had been sitting on her bed, and he hadn't come looking for her. She felt a twitch of anxiety in her gut, and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet hit the floor and she bolted to a standing position. She frowned and grabbed her keys. She drove to his land first; it was his sanctuary. He thought there. She got out of her Jeep and looked towards the trailer, but it was gone.

Nancy's voice rang in her head and she remembered how she had been talking about the trailer being gone. She forced herself to breathe deeply, and to remember how furious she was with him, despite her growing sense of trepidation.

Climbing back into her car, she backed down the dirt driveway. _Joe's_. She thought to herself. _When he's an ass, I drink. He'll be waiting for me at Joe's. _She drove there, forcing herself to stay within the speed limit. She didn't want to be concerned for him, after finding him kissing her intern, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt like something was wrong. It was Derek. He was supposed to show up and make corny speeches until she forgave him, not leave her alone to get increasingly more angry.

Meredith burst through the doors of the bar, scanning the crowd, eagerly, willing her eyes to land of a mess of dark curls. "Grey!" Joe called, waving.

She turned to look at him, and his amicable smile faded at the look on her face. "Has Derek been here?" she asked. Joe shook his head.

"What did he do?" he called out. Meredith bit her lip, but didn't answer. That suddenly didn't seem so important anymore.

Meredith turned on her heel and left the bar, heading back out into the rainy night. A slick sheen coated the roads as she maneuvered her car to the hospital and into a parking space. She jogged inside the hospital, and to his office, which was empty. The lights were off and his computer was on standby. She checked the board, but he wasn't in surgery. She dug in her bag and starting paging him.

In the trauma room where George and Cristina were forcing a tube down Derek's throat so he could breathe, and learn the full extent of his injuries, they heard his pager going off. Cristina picked it up. "It's Meredith." She said.

Mark nodded. "Call Bailey, Burke and the chief." He muttered. "Meredith should hear this from me."

* * *

He found her striding down the hallway, looking around almost frantically. "Mark." She said, spotting him. "Have you seen Derek? Cause he never came looking for me. There were no grand gestures or apologies and that's just so unlike him." She laughed nervously. "I mean, it's Derek, right?"

"Meredith…" Mark said slowly.

She ignored him and kept talking. "I checked his land, but the trailer is gone. Do you know why the trailer is gone? Oh and I checked Joe's. And his office is empty, and he's not on the board."

"Meredith." Mark interrupted.

"And now I can't think of any more places that he could possibly be, and…"

"Meredith!" Mark shouted. "I need to talk to you."

"Sorry," she whispered, not meeting his eyes. "I ramble when I'm nervous." She raised her eyes to meet Mark's and he looked down instinctively. Her heart started to pound in cold, hard fear. "Mark, where is Derek?" she whispered.

"Mer…" Mark started. She shook her head, overcome with panic at what she knew was coming.

"Don't." she told Mark. "Just tell me."

Mark sighed. "Ambulance brought him in half an hour ago. Drunk driver hit him going ninety five. Flipped his car off the road. He's critical."

Meredith smiled weakly. "But he's going to be fine, right?" Mark took a step toward her.

"I don't know." He whispered. "It doesn't look good right now. Massive internal bleeding, near his heart, Mer. Burke and Bailey and Richard are on it."

She nodded calmly, her face unchanging, stoic for a moment. She twisted the ring on her finger and looked up at Mark, her eyes widening with shock. Mark got his arms around her before she crumbled to the floor.

Mark stood with his arms around her as she cried. Suddenly, he felt her wrench away and he loosened his grasp. Addison, who had just come from Derek's trauma room, stood a few feet away, watching the scene unfold, Ashlyn cradled in her arms.

Meredith stumbled to the trash can nearest to her, leaned over and threw up. Mark and Addison reacted simultaneously, each moving towards her at the same moment. Meredith straightened herself and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "The last thing I said to him…" she whispered. The last strains of their arguments echoed in Addison's mind.

"_Mer, I'll make this up to you. That or die trying." Derek said. _Addison winced as she remembered the way Meredith had rolled her eyes and snapped at him that he shouldn't do her any favors.

Mark raised her eyebrows. _"Go to hell, Derek." _She had yelled at him.

Meredith's face paled, and Addison shot Mark a look. His hand circled around her wrist and gently tugged her towards the nearby nurses' lounge, as Addison pulled out her cell phone and called Izzie, who had since gone home.

"Hello?" she answered, sounding groggy.

"Iz, it's Addison. You and Alex should come back to the hospital, okay?"

"What's going on?" she asked, sounding more alert. Out of the corner of her eye, Addison saw a code team heading the hall.

"Just get here." She said to Izzie, hurrying after them, still holding Ashlyn. She followed the code team, relieved when they passed Derek's room. She poked her head inside where Bailey, Richard and Burke were appraising his injuries while Cristina and George leaned against the wall, watching in acute horror.

"How's it look?" Addison whispered. Richard looked at her and shook his head.

"He needs surgery." He said. "Soon." There was silence in the room as Burke made a note on his chart.

"Does Meredith know?" Cristina asked. Addison nodded.

"Mark's with her." She said. Their heads snapped up as the staccato beats of Derek's heart monitor slowed until he flat lined. Burke and Cristina lunged for the code button, and hit it at the same time.

"People, we need to operate now." The chief bellowed. "Get him to the OR!"

Addison backed out of the room, into Bridget who was hovering outside the door. "What's going on?" she asked.

Addison eyed her coldly. "Dr. Neilson, get to the pit and stay there." She snapped. "Or go home." Addison left her there, and headed back to the nurses' lounge, where she found Mark and Meredith, sitting on a couch. Mark picked up a cup of coffee and handed it to Meredith. She took it and started to sip robotically. Addison winced at her catatonic demeanor, and continued to watch them, marveling at the bizarre connection they had. A few weeks ago, when she had been in surgery, there roles had been reversed.

She coughed, alerting Mark to her presence. He stood, and Meredith just sank back into the cushions, staring at the wall.

"How's he doing?" Mark asked as he joined Addison in the hall. He took Ashlyn in his arms, and pulled Addison in to kiss her forehead. Addison shook her head.

"It's bad, Mark." She said. "He looks…." She swallowed and continued. "He was crashing. They're taking him down to surgery now." Mark sucked in a breath. Addison pulled him a little further down the hall.

"How's Meredith?" she asked.

Mark sighed. "Not good. She hasn't said a word." He looked down at Ashlyn. "Addie, is he going to be okay?" Mark asked, suddenly sounding vulnerable.

Addison looked down. "I don't know." She whispered. Mark sighed and looked down. Addison reached up and cupped his cheeks with her hands. "Listen." She said. "We know Derek. He's a fighter. He can pull through this." Mark nodded again and looked up resolutely.

"We should work on staying strong for Meredith." He said, glancing back into the lounge, only to find it empty and the opposite door ajar. "Shit." He muttered. "She's gone."

Addison followed his eyes and swore under her breath. "She's in the gallery." She said.

"Who's in the gallery?" Alex asked, appearing behind them with Izzie, both of them yawning and clutching coffee cups.

Mark opened his mouth to answer when his pager went off. "911 from Burke." He said, jogging off, handing Ashlyn to Addison. She sighed, and handed the baby to Izzie, following Mark as fast as she could on her heels.

Izzie looked at Alex as Ashlyn started to scream. "So glad we got up for this." She muttered.


	17. Chapter 17

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**WE ARE SO SORRY. We hope this makes up for the long delay in updates.**

**REVIEW.**

The gallery was cold, vacant and silent. Meredith sat in the hard plastic chair, completely alone and struggling to breathe. The gallery was supposed to be closed, and no one in the OR had any reason to think she would be sitting there, so no one looked up and noticed. They were all too focused on Derek.

Meredith was stunned at how different he looked, bruised, bloody and broken, lying there as Burke cut into his chest. The whole world felt cold, vacant and silent. In a series of moments, everything had shifted and changed. Her whole existence was in question now. The haunting image of Derek kissing Bridget had been replaced by the image before her. Derek had always been the strong one, the one who brought her back from the edge, but that had changed too.

He was weak now, clinging to life, exposing the irony of his helplessness to save himself from what he saved other people from everyday. Meredith was shaking, freezing and utterly alone. She gripped the edge of the chair, her slim fingers wrapping around and holding it tightly, like a life raft in a sea that wouldn't stop churning.

* * *

Mark and Addison haphazardly grabbed masks from the shelf and held them over their faces as they waited for the sliding doors to open. "911?" Mark asked, referring to Burke's page.

"Get Grey out of the gallery." Burke said, without looking up. Addison's eyes traveled upwards and she started moving. She ran through the halls and burst into the gallery, shaken at what she saw.

"Oh Meredith." She breathed. "Come on."

Meredith shook her head. "I want to watch." She said, her voice stiff and robotic.

"Meredith, you don't want to see this."

"Why?" She challenged. "You think I don't know he'll probably die?" Addison sat down and put a hand on her shaking shoulder.

"He's not going to die." She said. "Meredith, look at me." She commanded. Meredith's eyes wouldn't budge from the OR, so Addison knelt in front of her. "Derek will fight. He will fight it, if for nothing else, but the chance to tell you he's sorry. He's not going to leave you. He's not going to die." Meredith said nothing. Addison sat back down next to her and grabbed one of her shaking hands, holding it in hers.

"Cristina's down there." Meredith said. Her hollow tone sent shivers down Addison's spine. "That's good. Cristina can separate herself. She doesn't see Derek right now. She sees any other patient."

Addison hesitated. "What do you see?" she asked.

"Everything." Meredith replied.

* * *

"Level with me." Mark told Burke, casting his glance on Bailey and the chief. "What are his chances?"

Richard cleared his throat. "It's too soon to tell." He said.

"Mark," Burke said seriously, "Get Meredith out of the gallery. If something happens…" He trailed off. Mark swallowed hard and nodding, backing slowly out of the OR. "And Sloan?" Burke called. "No one is giving up in here without one hell of a fight." Mark nodded and retraced Addison's footsteps to the gallery.

"We're going." He said, his voice strong, commanding compliance.

"I'm not going anywhere." Meredith said defiantly. They locked eyes and Addison looked back and forth between the two of them. Mark reached down and in one fluid motion scooped Meredith out of her chair, and carried her into the hallway and all the way to the waiting area, Addison trailing behind them.

The families of patients stared as Mark, in his scrubs, carried Meredith in her jeans and sweater, as she struggled against him. "Let go Mark!" she said. He plopped her down in a chair and put his hands on her shoulders.

"No one is letting go." He said firmly. "Not us, not your friends, not Derek. You're going to sit here, and it's going to be hell, but when they tell you he's okay, it's going to be worth it." She looked up at him, and the tears came again, huge, gut wrenching sobs she couldn't control. Struggling to breathe, she shook her head.

"I can't do this." She gasped. She started to get up, prepared to run, but Mark grabbed her shoulders and knelt in front of her. "Now you listen to me, Meredith." He said in a low, but firm voice. "I know you want to run. I know you're terrified and you want out of here now, but you need to fight the fear and you need to stay, because…"

She cut him off by trying to wrench her shoulders from his grasp. He repositioned his grip. "Look at me, Mer. You need to stay because when he wakes up, if you're not here, there's no fixing it. And if he dies," She shuddered. "Meredith, if the worst should happen and he dies, and you're not here because you ran away, you will never forgive yourself."

He gripped both of her hands in his and looked at her straight in the eye. "So cry. Cry, scream, anything. But you need to be here."


	18. Chapter 18

**Title: Loud And Clear**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: we don't own grey's anatomy, or any anatomies but our own at that.**

**Summary: Sequel to One Hell Of a Racket. Babies, weddings, and rain. Seattle at it's finest. Babysitting for the ex wife, meeting the family, planning the wedding and fending off the intern. All in a day's work. **

**Author's Note: The final story in our trilogy. We're staring two days from where 'Racket' left off. Also, we made up all the names and details of Derek's family, save for Nancy, who we adore, by the way. **

**WE ARE SO SORRY. We hope this makes up for the long delay in updates.**

**REVIEW.**

His footsteps were heavier than they should have been. Addison had spent enough time here to be able to read them. There were certain ways that they moved, and she just knew. Burke was always self satisfied after a successful surgery. They all were, but there was something about Preston Burke after he saved a life. A certain spring in his step that wasn't otherwise there.

That night, after four hours in the OR with Derek, his steps were slow, like he was trudging down this hallway to say something he'd rather not. She and Mark sat on either side of Meredith, with Alex close by, Izzie in a nearby on call room with Ashlyn. Addison was the first one to see Burke round the corner, the chief behind him, with George trailing behind. She sat up straighter on instinct, and Meredith's head snapped up.

They filed in front of them, and no one said anything. Burke and Richard looked at each other, as if they were trying to decide who would say what and how. "George." Meredith said, her voice shaking. "George, please just tell me." She said. He looked down.

Meredith stood up quickly. "Look at me!" she demanded, her voice shrill. "Someone look at me and tell me that he's not dead!"

Burke cleared his throat. "He's not dead." He said. "He got through the surgery. Now it's all a matter of waking up."

"Is something wrong with his brain?" Mark asked standing.

Richard shook his head. "The trauma to his body took its toll. But he's healthy and strong. All signs are pointing to him waking up just fine."

Meredith kept her eyes trained on George. Her friend lifted his eyes to meet Meredith's. "They were amazing in there, Mer." He said softly. "He's going to wake up." She collapsed back down into her chair.

"Meredith…"Addison said. She shook her head and stood again.

"I have to… I can't." she said, running for the elevator. They watched her go, the elevator doors shutting.

"She's not running." Mark said. "She can't sit here anymore. But she's not running." They all stood, staring at the elevator, knowing that somehow that was enough.

* * *

Cristina stood in the intensive care unit, staring at Derek Shepherd. She sat down on the chair by his bed, going over the surgery in her mind. Every second, every incision, every stitch. It was all still there. She listened to the sound of the machines he was hooked to.

"Listen." She said finally. "You kissed the intern. That doesn't matter." She paused and stood up. "Meredith is my person." She said firmly. "And I was there for her when you left. But you can't leave her again. It's not what you do. You're McDreamy. You have to pull through this."

Cristina swallowed hard and forced herself to continue. "You have to fight, Shepherd. She falls apart without you. And you made promises. There's supposed to be a wedding we can pretend to hate but secretly love. There's supposed to be a house. And babies. And I swear to God, you can not let her down. She loves you. It might not be smart, but it's real. So you will get through this. You will fight and you'll make it. For Meredith." She nodded to herself, and turned on her heel, looking into the soft eyes of Miranda Bailey.

"I couldn't have said that any better myself, Yang." Bailey whispered. Cristina looked down at the floor, then met her former resident's eyes. She nodded resolutely. "Come on." Bailey said. "Your friend needs you. And there are plenty of lives to save." Cristina cast one look at Derek, then followed Bailey out of the room.

While they moved through the hospital, Meredith stood still. Inside, sitting in that chair had been confining and scary. The walls had slowly closed in on her until she felt like she couldn't breathe. The roof was open. The rain came down in a mist so fine she could barely feel it. The breeze blew, and she could see all of Seattle, illuminated by hundreds of twinkling lights, like the city itself was trying to assure her. She stared at the skyline, transfixed; stared until her vision blurred and the buildings swam in front of, a mass of electricity and light.

Up here, she wasn't haunted by her last words to Derek, or the image of him lying on the operating table, or the look between Burke and the chief, or the way George had looked at her nose, not her eyes while he promised her he would be okay. Up here there was nothing but her and Seattle.

"I heard he's out of surgery." Came a voice from behind her. She turned slowly, confused, not expecting to hear anyone. Chestnut hair, vibrant green eyes and a body that rivaled Izzie's came into view.

"He's out of surgery." She repeated. Bridget walked over to her and leaned on the wall of the roof, looking in the same direction that Meredith stared in. Her hand rustled in her pocket, and the flick of her lighter sounded. "Give me one?" Meredith asked quietly. Bridget shot her a look that went virtually unnoticed by Meredith, but handed her a cigarette anyway.

"You know those things will kill you." Bridget said.

Meredith smiled. "There's this kid in India that thinks he can cure cancer." She said. Bridget laughed softly, in spite of herself.

"I'm so sorry." She said.

"This isn't your fault." Meredith told her. "You weren't the drunk driver that hit him doing ninety."

"But I…" Bridget faltered. Meredith inhaled deeply and coughed a little.

"Dr. Neilson." She said. "Bridget. Don't blame yourself for this. Kissing him was…. You're young. I'm not excusing it. Expect to be on scut for a very long time. But I know you didn't… that doesn't seem so important right now."

"He really loves you." Bridget said. "I'm not cleaning up here, Dr. Grey. I'm not seeing the error of my ways enough to do a 180, but I understand that I should…try."

Meredith nodded. "That's all you can do." She said. Bridget took a long drag and flicked ashes from the tip of her cigarette over the side of the building.

"He'll be okay, you know." She said. "I know it doesn't mean anything, coming from me, but he'll be okay. He's not the quitting type."

Meredith smiled to herself, as it all rushed back in Technicolor. The gestures. The proposal. The look in his eyes when he looked at her. "That's for sure." She whispered. "How'd you know I was up here anyway?"

Bridget smiled. "Lucky guess."


End file.
